I'm not enthused at all about any politician locking up his opponents to win an election regardless of who is trying to get to power...and that is what the current & newly re-elected P. of Russia allegedly just did.
I'm not a fan of China's idea of keeping their Leader till death us do part either. I think there should be a 'use by date' for leaders...ha!
I am worried about T hiring and firing like a reality tv series. Surrounding himself with "yes" men instead of advisers that can counter his temper outbursts. His tweets are generally hysterical - but I don't have social media so only see the really daft ones that hit our headlines. Unfortunately, that is almost a daily occurrence.
I think wages are not going to rise anywhere for a fair while. My idea is that whilst some jobs are being created they are 'casual' and not full-time. So the stats are a bit skewed. There is a strong current of underemployment. Not just in the US either. Wages are tied to confidence by both investors and consumers in the economy. It is easier and less expensive to hire a few more casual employees than upgrade one to permanent status or even give a wage rise to existing employees. It is harder to fire a permanent employee and really hard to take money out of their wage packets.
Wage earners are ppl who spend money within the economy. If they feel under pressure bc of numerous reasons, they will not spend normally. They will not spend if they are under-employed, unemployed or the cost of essentials starts to outstrip their disposable income. Discretionary spending starts to drop...it's not a knee-jerk thing. I think it happens over a long cycle - years - though there are warning signs.
Confidence in the economy to actually grow comes about from years of work. It is permanent structural change that makes it consistently grow. So even in the US electoral cycle..what might be implemented by a former President will not show up until he has left office. Benefit or damage. Even a second term president may not see the benefit from changes or policy he has successfully signed off on in his first term of office.
Imagine working so dam hard to get something done, something good and then having to walk away and see some smug opponent scribble all over a doc., repealing something that is just beginning to start working. Regardless of who one support's that must be very hard.
