President Zero?

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Zero Job Growth Latest Bleak Sign for U.S. Economy,” paints a stark picture of the current unemployment situation in the United States. The retail and manufacturing sectors, both which have been leading the slow recovery, ground to a halt, and even indicators for the future such as hours worked per week showed no increase.

The statistical impasse comes as a point when Democrats and Republicans are in partisan gridlock, and the brinksmanship over the debt ceiling led to Standard & Poors downgrading the United States credit rating, albeit from AAA to AA.

Meanwhile, with the President’s nationwide address now scheduled for early Thursday evening, timed to avoid a conflict with NFL football, and changed after the Republicans refused to extend him an invitation for Wednesday to avoid a conflict with their Presidential debate, the stakes have become even higher. One wonders if it even matters what he proposes since it seems inevitable that the Republicans will oppose it anyway. Indeed, even prior Republican legislative proposals have gone down in flames when President Obama has recycled them.

Clearly, a jobless rate of 9.1 percent is unacceptable, and action is required. But one wonders whether the players in our system, Democrats, Republicans and the Federal Reserve, have the guts and leadership to accomplish it.