For all his dislike for what he considers lying, my friend Mac seems to be a master of the partial and/or the half truth.
In his letter on Jan. 24 about unemployment he seems to confuse poverty and unemployment.
They overlap, but they do tend to be separate problems. Also he suggests, the easiest way to change results is to manipulate the data or, at least, don”t define or explain the facts you quote. He questions “why” a lot, but when he quotes figures, he doesn”t follow his own advice.
He stated that unemployment, at 92 million, is at the highest since 1977, and is at a rate of 6.7 percent if only because of the way the basic calculation practices have changed over the years.
But he does not explain why, nor does he define U3 or U6, the bases for at least one of his accusations of lying.
I would think that the mere huge increase in population figures in somewhere and that the definition of unemployment has a great influence too.
In contrast, when I was at university in the late-1940s unemployment was figured at seven percent and that was acceptable, mostly because it reflected a rolling population as people sought better jobs and advancement.
There are too many studies that contest the North Carolina reference and it is probably our own fault for having been too tolerant in the past, and being too cheap so that low-end jobs are now less costly, but overseas.
We all should pay attention to Mac”s ideas concerning the fraud and irresponsibility that lead to the horrendous levels of administrative costs.
Having been in the efficiency business, what really bothers me is that if such waste is known to exist, it ought to be able to be corrected. It is not and it is a shame to our country.
As to unemployment, while I surely wouldn”t bet the farm on Mac”s statistics, he is most certainly right in his concern about the unemployment problem.
Personally, I don”t think we will ever solve it for many reasons. Too bad as the alternative is only twofold; learn to pay for it, or let a lot of people die.
Guthrie “Guff” Worth
Lakeport
