The Rant -- Government NEET Counting Covers Economy's Weakness

Mar 23, 2012

The Rant — Government NEET Counting Covers Economy’s Weakness

by Mike McCune –

“I have sworn on the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”–Thomas Jefferson

Government is fond of spouting its version of the truth while forgetting the jury also demands the whole truth and nothing but the truth. With that established, most everyone is familiar with “NEET”, a cosmetic used to remove unwanted hair growth, but are you aware government actually has a program called NEETs which it uses to hide the true size of the unemployment problem?

NEET is a Bureau of Labor Statistics’ acronym for “Not in Education, Employment or Training”. NEETs are not counted among the work force, keeping the unemployment rate artificially low.

Both applications of NEET accomplish the purpose of hiding the true appearance of treated items. It is not appearance but reality that you have to live with as once the appearance becomes the norm reality has a nasty way of biting. Since NEET-using politicians are as busy wooing voters as men woo NEET-using women on a Friday night, those non-users must remember the reality lurking below. NEET serves the government’s purposes by shielding nearly 18% of the American population from being counted as “unemployed”. If today’s unemployed were counted the same as they were in 1932, our unemployment rate would be the worst in our history.

A recent analysis in the Daily Reckoning arrived at the 18% figure (about 54 million Americans) were being dropped by NEET calculations. Since the unemployment rate is arrived at by dividing the total workforce into the number of unemployed the government achieved a beautiful (by current standards) rate of 8.3%. Politicians are using the beautiful look to make sure the corrupt system stays in place.

In his thought-provoking essay “What If Democracy Is Bunk?” Andrew Napolitano tackled the ethical aspect of government using things like NEET head-on.

“What if you are allowed to vote because it doesn’t make any difference? What if, no matter how you vote the elites get to have it their way? What if democracy convinces people they could prosper, not through the creation of wealth by through theft from others? What if democracy turns elections into beauty contests…and the civil unrest we are seeing around the world is because government is out of control?”

NEET used to make government look more attractive to voters is no different than the over-the-counter kind. In both cases the suitor is buying something based on appearance without fully understanding the consequences of the beast being hidden. It is an American tragedy more voters vote poorly than we date. But if we date poorly we can always fix it with a quick divorce (courtesy of government regulations) but a bad vote means we are stuck with the option.

When Valerie Jarrett, unqualified as White House Social Secretary but now a lofty WH advisor, can blandly assert “Unemployment is good for the economy because the checks are spent and help stimulate the economy” and not one media outlet howls in outrage, you know the ship is way off course.

Just what does she think the people the funds were stolen from were going to do with it? But having each keep what they’ve earned does not fit with government’s intended aim of wealth redistribution. Redistribution equals more votes at the ballot box until those who support the government are outnumbered by those in opposition.

Demand your government stop adjusting figures. Demand it eliminate such devious tactics as “seasonally-adjusted” and “recounting” and provide the real numbers as presented otherwise you will never know the reality from the pretty picture until it is too late.

The only way to solve the NEET problem is a choice Americans have not had to make in 236 years. Until we stop allowing for NEET beauty, confronting the reality warts being hidden, we will never regain the beauty of our country’s “Manifest Destiny.”

Michael McCune spent 16 years as a government tax auditor and then operated a consulting/accounting business for 14 years. For 11 years he wrote a biweekly opinion column for the local paper (1981-1992).

Share on Facebook