Government losses a big part of state unemployment increases | Economic Policy Institute

Government losses a big part of state unemployment increases | Economic Policy Institute
With so many states struggling to regain jobs lost during the recession, adding public sector workers to the ranks of the unemployed is clearly a step in the wrong direction. Moreover, addressing budget shortfalls through budgets cuts not only decimates the public sector workforce, but it also devastates the private sector. (My colleague Ethan Pollack’s research shows that, “for every dollar of budget cuts, over half of the jobs and economic activity will be lost in the private sector, for a number of reasons,” including the fact that a significant portion of state spending is on goods and services supplied by the private sector.)
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This is all true, but Washington is operating on Tea Party logic now, so it seems that we may continue with this self-destructive course until we no longer have a middle class at all. Then we can enjoy the politics of rich vs. poor, which is always fun to watch unless the riots are in your neighborhood.