With Unemployment at 9.5 Percent, Is the Stimulus Working?
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The President's $800 billion stimulus package hasn't been fully rolled out yet, but the US economy is already almost 7 million jobs in the hole since the recession began. Who's able to find work and who's not? Is more stimulus money needed? How much worse is it going to be before it gets better? Also, another protest crushed in Tehran, and China's President Hu Jintau has rushed home from the G8 to deal with rioting by the Uighurs, one of 55 officially recognized minorities.
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Making News
Another Protest Crushed in Tehran ()
More than 1000 demonstrators were met with tear gas and beatings today in Tehran as violence continued in the aftermath if last month's contested elections. Borzou Daragahi, Middle East correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, recently left Iran for Beirut, Lebanon.
Guests:
- Borzou Daragahi: Middle East Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, @borzou
Main Topic
With 7 Million Unemployed, Is the Stimulus Working? ()
By orders of magnitude, unemployment is rising faster than the new jobs promised from the $800 billion stimulus package. National unemployment has risen to 9.5 percent, higher than the 8 percent peak predicted by the administration when it was selling the package to Congress. Some economists and some Democrats want another package. The President says, "Give this one more time." Republicans already are saying, "I told you so." Meantime, just one job is available for every six unemployed workers. Are schools and workplace developers training people for jobs that don't exist? Who finds work and who doesn't? Will the so-called "green economy" pick up the slack?
Guests:
- Lori Montgomery: Financial Reporter, Washington Post, @loriamontgomery
- Linda Hahn: Executive Director, Metropolitan Career Center
- Heidi Shierholz: Economist, Economic Policy Institute
- Maya MacGuineas: President, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, @MayaMacGuineas
Links:
Reporter's Notebook
Ethnic Tensions in China ()
President Hu Jintao abruptly left the G8 summit in Italy to deal with deadly rioting in the northwest part of his country. On Sunday, rioting in Urumqi killed at least 156 people. It was set off by an earlier brawl at a factory in Guangdong, in the southeastern part of the country. The incidents dramatize the grievances of the Uighurs, one of 55 officially recognized minority groups which make up almost 10 percent of China's population. Frederick Starr is Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.
Guests:
- Frederick Starr: Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
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