Weekend Reading

For Democrats, Cleaning House Means Pelosi and Schumer Too
Surviving The Age of Trump
Did Trump Steal Wisconsin?
Why Oklahoma Can't Turn Off Its Earthquakes
Fracking Isn't Causing Oklahoma's Earthquakes - This Is
Do Markets Really Hate Uncertainty? Not At All
Why Are These Clowns Winning? Secrets of The Right-Wing Brain
Treat Start-Up Companies Like The Bucks
Walker's Lead Poisoned Politics
David Clarke The Demagogue
John Doe, Open Records Proves Harsdorf, Olsen Crooked, Unfit for Office
Wisconsin Corporations Won't Step Up To Improve State's Economy
Almost Two-Thirds of People In The Labor Force Do Not Have A College Degree
10 Facts About American Workers
How America Grew -- and Grew Unequal
Who Really Runs Your City?
Why I Left The Republican Party To Become A Democrat
Democratic Presidents are Better at Making Us Rich. Eight Reasons Why
Art of the Steal: This Is How Trump Lost $916M and Avoided Tax
Paying For Job Reductions: The Unreported Story of a Ballooning Tax Credit
The Deficit is Too Small, Not Too Big

Weekend Walker Reading

How Do You Like Unions Now, Gov Walker?
Scott Walker Back GOP Plan To Overhaul Civil Service System
Board Delays Decision On Land Sale To Walker Donor
Scott Walker Can't Be President, So He's Back Ruining Wisconsin
Irrelevant Scott Walker Hits New Low
GOP Presidential Candidate Scott Walker To Propose Vast Union Restrictions
Scott Walker Proposes National Right-To-Work Law and No Bargaining For Federal Workers
Scott Walker's Exaggerated Claims Of Employment Trends In Wisconsin
Wisconsin: Where Has The Labor Force Gone?
Wisconsin Still Has High Poverty

Moving Backwards With Scott Walker

Before Scott Walker and Republicans attack Tom Barrett and Democrats over their supposed economic failures, Walker and his ilk should look at their own abysmal record. 

Let's face it, the whole economy has been bad for workers for the past 5 years (actually since the 1980s). We're in a recession. And, the austerity measures and budet slashing are making things worse. Unemployment is high all over. Blaming this all on Tom Barrett makes as much sense as blaming it all on Scott Walker. (Although, Republican austerity policies are definitely prolonging the recession and adding unneeded suffering to the equation.)

But I get it, it's politics. So, with that in mind, here are various graphs of indicators of Wisconsin's economic performance and how Scott Walker is failing Wisconsin:

"The leading index for each state predicts the six-month growth rate of the state's coincident index. In addition to the coincident index, the models include other variables that lead the economy: state-level housing permits (1 to 4 units), state initial unemployment insurance claims, delivery times from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing survey, and the interest rate spread between the 10-year Treasury bond and the 3-month Treasury bill."

"The Coincident Economic Activity Index includes four indicators: nonfarm payroll employment, the unemployment rate, average hours worked in manufacturing and wages and salaries. The trend for each state's index is set to match the trend for gross state product."

"Estimated using sales prices and appraisal data."

"A statistic researched, recorded and reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics intended to represent the total number of paid U.S. workers of any business, excluding the following employees: general government employees, private household employees, employees of nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to individuals, and farm employees."

"A term used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to describe the subset of Americans who have jobs or are seeking a job, are at least 16 years old, are not serving in the military and are not institutionalized. In other words, all Americans who are eligible to work in the everyday U.S. economy." 

The Results Of The Reagan Revolution

The US Has the Highest Share of Employees in Low Wage Work

Employment Readings

Alternative Measures Of Labor Utilization
Comparing Recessions & Recoveries
Down & Out
Eleven Telling Charts From 2011
Employment Population Ratio
The Employment Situation
Lies, Damned Lies, And Politics
1 Million People Didn't Drop Out Of Labor Force Last Month
Right-Wing Relying On Discredited Information
Wow. But Is The Number Real?

Economic Indicators

Civilian Labor Force: Milwaukee County

Consumer Price Index: Fuel Oil and Other Fuels; Water, Sewer & Trash
Fuel prices started to spike around 2002-2003.

Consumer Price Index: Housing; Rent of Primary Residence

Consumer Price Index: Medical Care
Medical costs began their exponential rise during the mid-1980s.



Consumer Price Index: Transportation

Transportation costs accelerated with the oil embargo of the 1970s. They've been on that elevated trajectory ever since.



Health Insurance: Not Covered

Home Prices

Light Weight Vehicle Sales

Manufacturing Durable Goods Sector: Output Per Hour
Output per hour has steadily increased.



Manufacturing Durable Goods Sector: Real Hourly Compensation

Compensation increased during the Clinton, late 1990s, boom years, but has stagnated since.



Resident Population: Milwaukee County

Nonfarm Business Sector: Labor Share; Output Per Hour

Output per hour has increased steadily, while the share going to labor has stagnated.



Nonfinancial Corporations Sector: Output Per Hour; Labor Share

Output per hour has increased steadily, while the share going to labor has stagnated.



Nonfinancial Corporations Sector: Profits; Real Hourly Compensation

Profits have been on an overall upward trajectory. Compensation hasn't kept up.



Total Construction Spending: Residential; Commercial

Unemployment Rate: Milwaukee County