America faces a jobs depression

Keynes was right: only government can get us out of this jobs slump. And only taxing wealth can restore US prosperity

Robert Reich
Thursday 29 September 2011 09.33 EDT

The Reverend Al Sharpton and various labor unions announced Wednesday a March for Jobs. But I'm afraid we'll need more than marches to get jobs back.

Since the start of the Great Recession at the end of 2007, the potential labor force of the United States – that is, working-age people who want jobs – has grown by over 7 million. But since then, the number of Americans who actually have jobs has shrunk by more than 300,000.

In other words, we're in a deep hole – and the hole is deepening. In August, the United States created no jobs at all. Zero.