In 2011, do you think the economy will improve such that wages will rise & unemployement will fall?

[Stinky The Clown]

I don't think the election outcome will have as much influence one way or another as other factors.

[Skittles]

1. NO

nothing has changed that made this clusterfuck happen - there's been no accountability, and the same people who engineered it are still wielding and profiting

[Ishoutandscream2]

6. Seconded. Serious, radical change would have to occur

And I don't think it will come from elections.

[Skittles]

13. not if people are elected more for style than substance

absolutely NOT

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Well, those are two very different questions.

I think that we'll see an reduction in unemployment next year, but I'm not sure if we'll see a rise in wages (assuming by "rise in wages" you mean "pay per hour" and not "overall wages earned in the US per annum")

[elleng]

3. Not appreciably, and election outcome, one way or another, won't matter,

unless there were a HUGE pro-DEM outcome; without that, Congress and Senate will maintain their crappy ways, and won't be able to give POTUS what he needs, even if he seeks real 'relief-type' programs. imo

[RKP5637]

4. IMO it will be business as usual. We're not reelecting the real wealth/power brokers

behind the scenes, just the window dressing.

[ProudDad]

5. Not a chance...

the end of the age of cheap fossil fuels is OVER...

Nice run while it lasted...

(except for those pesky little health problems and catastrophic global climate destabalization and the buildup of an impossible to sustain capitalist economy that is now collapsing)...

Better rethink what work is, what a happy, decent life contains and hope that the capitalist vampires haven't rendered it too late to relocalize for a sustainable future.

[xchrom]

7. It's all a matter of degrees isn't it?

We've created alot of 'jobs'.

No one cane be sure how permanent they are.

Off shoring can happen with 'green' jobs --
We will see.

It goes on and on.

[QC]

8. No, unless there is some kind of serious demand stimulus,

which I don't think is in the offing, regardless of what happens on election day.

[truedelphi]

9. Insurance execs sure plan on seeing soaring wages.

the rest of us, not so much.

[ejpoeta]

10. i doubt it.

[defendandprotect]

11. Wages have been stagnant since 1970's ....will take a lot to revese that ... and now

we have trade agreements worsening all of that and joblessness!!

Think people are showing some confidence in economy -- but also think that

we had DEPRESSION -- and probably are still in GREAT RECESSION --

but until we overturn the trade agreements, we will not truly recover --

unless and until, we begin to invest in and create our own jobs here and STOP

buying imported goods.

[scarletwoman]

12. Nah. Not unless there are some truly dramatic, radical changes made that transform our entire

economic/political system -- such as dismantling the entire Financial sector that's sucking all the wealth out of the Commons. I'd like to see Wall Street knocked down to rubble and sown with salt, but that's just me. :)

sw

[Initech]

14. Definitely not if Linda "We should lower the minimum wage" McMahon gets in power

[Safetykitten]

15. No.

[DJ13]

16. No

Those on SS wont have additional income to spend, and many companies are (ab)using the fear of job loss during high unemployment to keep wages either stagnant or actually reducing wages where they can.

Without additional incomes this is as good as it can be.

[kestrel91316]

17. Yes. Though I suspect the slow march of time rather than election results

will be the prime force behind such.

[SocialistLez]

18. Not really.....

We might see the unemployment rate go down to 9.0% but I don't foresee it going any lower.
I'd LOVE for it to be lower but eh...

[Subdivisions]

19. Nope. Our civilization is in terminal decline. Albeit a slow decline. For now. n/t

[doc03]

20. I think both will improve in 2011. First of all the economy

almost always improves after the mid term elections. I feel companies have been sitting on their hands to help the Republicans in the election. After the election especially if the Republicans at least get the House they will start hiring and of course the Republicans will take credit for it.

[JVS]

21. There will be some kind of way to slice the stats to say that unemployment is down.

[Coyote_Bandit]

22. The "official" numbers

will show economic improvement, increasing wages and decreasing unemployment.

But most of us main street folks are not going to see any significant improvements.

[EFerrari]

23. Have you ever seen Richard Wolff's lecture, Capitalism Hits the Fan?

It's been playing on Free Speech TV. There's a version of it up at YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HTkEBIoxBA

[BzaDem]

24. I don't think wages will rise much (since inflation is low), but unemployment should fall.

Perhaps not the rate as they report it (since more people will be coming back into the workforce, offsetting people who get jobs), but significant actual job growth will probably happen in mid to late 2011 or early 2012.

[Yupster]

25. Unemployment will eventually start to drop

We need more than 150,000 jobs a month to just keep it even though.

My fear is that their will be a panic the first time the federal reserve raises interest rates. That will be a real jolt to the economy.

[Donnachaidh]

26. we're already being set up to expect a *lame duck* Congress

I expect, even IF we hold onto both house and senate, nothing will be done on a broad enough basis to help the middle class. There will ALWAYS be *something else* more *important* than any programs like FDR implemented.

And if the pukes take the House, they will run up bills *investigating* rather than do *anything* for the middle class. Mitch McConnell has already said they plan on obstructing and messing with the Administration, to set the stage for a republican to take the presidency.

Watch the news -- rumblings about Fannie/Freddie needing more money, other rumblings about the economy *collapsing* (Washington speak for MORE bailouts of elitist ponzi schemes).

We'll have a year and a half of a few token *fixes*, and then in the run up to 2012, we'll see more and bigger *fixes* done. Not for us, mind you, but as material for the campaign trail.

[HughBeaumont]

27. Not until some billionaires start fearing us.

To paraphrase Diderot - Man will be free when the last dead plutocrat is thrown in the grave of Trickle-Down.

[Donnachaidh]

35. +1000000 n/t

[jp11]

28. No to wages increasing much if at all, hopefully yes to unemployement

going down, either would require some action though otherwise we'll just 'limp' along to some 'recovery' at least that is my thought.

[madinmaryland]

29. Unemployment will probably fall, though probably not dramatically.

Wages will continue to stagnate.

[JustAnotherGen]

30. No

Because McConnell is on the record saying that the GOP's focus "if they win" will be destroying Obama so that the 2012 GOP candidate is poised to win. So IF they take the House - there will be ZERO talk of infrastructure. Infrastructure (a massive overhaul and modernization) would *I think* trigger a growing economy.

[Hannah Bell]

31. no. the opposite. i expect a downturn.

[Donnachaidh]

36. we've been propped up just to get through the elections

Hey - lookie over here -- and remember to vote! :sarcasm:

[lunatica]

32. Things might actually get worse

Let's get real. The people who are getting unemployment aren't going away or getting jobs. And the jobs they are getting are lousy ones. No corporations are bringing their work back to the US. We're still making too much money in our pay. When we can be cheaper to pay than the countries they've taken the jobs to they will return here.

Things will not improve for the almost extinct middle class, because it doesn't matter if the Democrats keep the house and Senate. Things will, at best, stay the same which means they will be bad.

[Starry Messenger]

33. No.

The rich have evidently decided they don't need most of the rest of us for now.

[TheKentuckian]

34. Yeah, the unemployment rate will go down because of no unemployment benefits

and therefore we can pretend millions and millions are "discouraged" or whatever they like to say when they want folks off the count.

Actual jobs??? Not much. We haven't net created a job in years now and are doing nothing to change that. In fact with revenue shortfalls we're probably looking at further gutting of the public sector.

Everyone counting on improvement is basing such beliefs on faith in cycles not actions taken to strengthen the market, new products and services, or regulatory adjustments or anything else that has a direct impact. Sounds like some are awaiting movement from the "invisible hand" aka Mammon, aka our secular deity and not actual investment, infrastructure advantages, invention, and labor.