Accounting for Education and Nursing

Today, the Tribune ran an article titled "Jobless numbers don't tell full story." It states that "The unemployment number understates reality even more than the consumer price index, which always seems to show low inflation except for the stuff that folks actually need to buy.
In the tradition of Florida election judges, the jobless count overlooks all sorts of people. Maybe its biggest failing, and to the extent that it provides a false sense of security these days, is its inability to account for the nation's Ron Raneys. As a former trading-floor worker turned home inspector and now retail clerk, the 50-year-old Raney certainly is employed. In fact, he also moonlights selling beer at Cubs and Sox games. "It's the American Dream," he said with a laugh. "Two kids and two jobs." But Raney makes about 60 percent less than he did at his peak several years ago as an employee of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. And neither the jobless number nor its related data on the employment situation convey the instability, stress and downward mobility felt by so many Americans such as Raney."

I have written about this topic extensively, and this article just indicates that even mainstream 'joe 6 pack' newspapers are writing about the gross abuses perpetrated on the citizens by the government.

The good news is that many of my best students are increasingly choosing either Education (K-12), Nursing, or Accounting as their majors. The bad news is that these talented students are not choosing sciences or engineering or political science.