Loading ...I think “all over the place” sums up mkts since January 20th (or a bit before).
I read an article on functional unemployment on ZH today, a phrase which I had totally misconstrued. It means part timers who can’t get a full time job through no fault of their own. Although they are categorised as ’employed’ for statistical purposes, they can’t live off their earnings and are a victim of government apathy.
I had previously thought that it meant people who had jobs which were unproductive. Bureaucrats, lawyers, most accountants especially tax ones, most police, uni lecturers, judges, politicians etc etc. In the sense that although they have a function, they don’t actually do any work, productive work. And often their ‘work’ is actually counterproductive, getting in the way of producers with rules and regulations, forms that need ticks here there and everywhere. So they are basically unemployed, but still have a function.
There is a basic similarity between the actual definition and my wrong definition. Both have something to do, but neither can get full time productive work. The difference is that my ‘functionally unemployed’ are usually incapable of anything productive, nor do they have any desire for such a position.