2 million jobs saved or created…Christina Romer or Carnac Romer?

Christina Romer experienced yet another giddy moment earlier this morning; “This is truly a stunning effect” of the Recovery Act. She also stated that there is need for additional spending to spur job creation. She also acknowledged that it is hard to make employment-creation claims when the economy has shed 8 million jobs in the last two years. According to “Carnac the magnificent,” the economy would have as many as 2 million more jobs in the hole without the stimulus.




Of course I would be remiss for not pointing that her figures are based on macroeconomic estimates and not by reports filed by the stimulus funding recipients.

Kudos’ to you Ms. Romer on your PhD however let’s review some of the “real“ data from a B.S. Education degree perspective.

1. Labor Dept. states there are 6.4 unemployed workers for
each job opening
2. Job openings fell to 2.4 million in November (4.8 million in June 2007)
3. Fed's Beige Book makes no reference to your magic wand estimates
4. 4.2 mil net job losses in 2009 (DOL) and 15.3 mil unemployed
5. 39.8% of unemployed are without work for 6 months or longer
6. 661,000 people fell out of the U.S. labor force in December
7. Underemployment rate 17.3% in December
8. 1.4 million personal and business bankruptcy filings in 2009

Christina, we are fed up with your Good Ship Lollipop rendition. When you complete skipping from one media outlet to another, check your math as a discrepancy exists between reality and your mythical interpretation of the facts.

Ms. Romer, which of the following industry groups experienced the most saved jobs?