Richardcyoung.com

  • Home
  • Debbie Young
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Key West
  • Your Survival Guy
  • How We Are Different
  • Paris
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • Dick Young
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool
  • Anti-Gun Control
  • Anti-Digital Currency
  • Joel Salatin & Alfie Oakes
  • World Gold Mine Production
  • Fidelity & Wellington Since 1971
  • Hillsdale College
  • Babson College
  • Contact Us

Long-Term Unemployed at All-Time High!

February 10, 2014 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

In a typical business cycle the long-term unemployed comprise 20-25% of all unemployed. “In recent months, that percentage has jumped to nearly 40% — an all-time record!” writes Cato’s Dan Mitchell. A strong economy is the salve for long-term unemployment. Big government is not. But both sides of the aisle are to blame. “Under both Presidents Bush and Obama, the size and scope of government has expanded, and the United States — which had the world’s third-most free-market economy when Bill Clinton left office — has now dropped to 17th in the Economic Freedom of the World rankings,” Mitchell explains and continues here:

We also need to make sure the unemployed don’t get lured into long-term dependency. One glaring example of misguided big-government policy is the argument to endlessly extend unemployment benefits. That sounds compassionate, but according to economists such policies discourage the unemployed from aggressively seeking new jobs.

There is also persuasive evidence that employers are reluctant to hire people (regardless of any “pledges” they may sign) who have been out of work for lengthy periods, which makes the President’s preferred approach of more unemployment benefits akin to an overprotective parent who hinders a child’s development.

Moreover, Obama’s proposed hike in the minimum wage would actually counteract any good his pledge would do. Why? Increasing the minimum wage is the equivalent of sawing off the bottom rungs on the economic ladder. Simply stated, businesses create jobs when they think a new employee will help the bottom line. Artificially raising the cost of workers — particularly those with marginal skills — is a recipe for creating more unemployment.

The president’s effort to get companies on board with hiring the long-term unemployed should be applauded, but he shouldn’t for one second think that it will solve the problem. In fact, too many of his other proposals would serve only to exacerbate the problem the long-term unemployed are facing. Instead, Obama should take a page out of the Reagan and Clinton presidencies and take action to get to the root of unemployment: economic growth.

Related Posts

  • Eroding Economic Freedom
  • Silver at 10-month High
  • U.S. #16 Economic Freedom Index
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998.

E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention.

E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris.

Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com

Click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)
  • Your Survival Guy’s Boat-Shoes-on-the-Docks View - July 9, 2025
  • Your Survival Guy: “You Wouldn’t Have Liked It” - July 8, 2025
  • We Finally Got on the Boat - July 7, 2025

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • Fireside Chat: Dick Young and Your Survival Guy
  • Robo-Advisors: When You Have a Lot More to Lose than Money
  • Boom or Bust: “What Do You Think of Bitcoin?
  • The Four Most Important Words in Investing
  • My Smith & Wesson Revolvers Home Defense Team
  • BLOOD THINNERS: Is a Big Advance Imminent?
  • You’re Ready to “Make It a Good Month”
  • The Claremont Institute: Protecting the American Way of Life
  • You Need to Seek Some Shelter for When Things Get Ugly
  • America’s States Rights Revolution

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • Your Survival Guy’s Boat-Shoes-on-the-Docks View
  • Would the Pat Buchanan Plan Work Today?
  • U.S. and Israel Partner on AI and Energy Innovation
  • California Faces Fuel Price Volatility Amid Refinery Closures
  • New Tariff Rates Announced as U.S. Tackles Trade Deficit
  • Your Survival Guy: “You Wouldn’t Have Liked It”
  • DOE Unveils Plan to Quadruple U.S. Nuclear Power by 2050
  • How China Weaponized Rare Earths to Shift U.S. Trade Policy
  • Trump Administration Moves to Curb Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland
  • We Finally Got on the Boat

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • Your Survival Guy’s Boat-Shoes-on-the-Docks View
  • Are Private Equity’s Excess Returns Disappearing?
  • What Can Tariffs Do for America?
  • Your Survival Guy: “You Wouldn’t Have Liked It”
  • ESG Doesn’t Stand Up to Scrutiny
  • How to Dock a Boat with Helm Master EX
  • We Finally Got on the Boat
  • The Big Beautiful Bill: Good, Bad, and Ugly
  • WARNING: Your Survival Guy and Gal in the Fog
  • Happy Independence Day!

US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

My Key West Garden Office

Your Retirement Life: Traveling the Efficient Frontier

Live a Long Life

Your Survival Guy’s Mt. Rushmore of Investing Legends

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

Copyright © 2025 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives