Unemployment

Sick and tired. This is how I feel, and I hope that this is how all of Rhode Island feels about the unemployment rate. Throughout all of the world, there is a feeling that people are not able to attain the jobs they desire. I wonder why is no one being hired for jobs.

One could argue that with every mouth, there is a need for food–thus there is a need for a job (feeding the mouth). My point is simply every individual could be looked upon as a job creator, because every person’s needs provide an exigency for a solution or job. Perhaps people are too picky in job searches. Are America’s standards too high? The saying “the world needs ditch diggers” did not come from thin air. Is that really the problem? I do not have that answer.

It is discouraging as a college student, studying liberal arts to constantly be reminded of how poor the economy is at the moment. Currently overseas Spain is experiencing a similar phenomenon. With the highest unemployment in their country’s history, people have taken to rioting and protesting for political figures to resign. How far from that state is the United States? Is Rhode Island. Looking to our neighbors can often provide a perspective to measure ourselves against. The alarming thing is that I see no reason to believe that this cannot happen here.

More specifically to Rhode Islanders, the need for our job market to grow is becoming desperate. Lacking a growing segment of the market is a crucial contributor to the economic downturn. RI needs to find an industry that is not only unique but also stable. the lack of a staple economic contribution in this age of technology provides Rhode Island with no competitive advantage- something that is essential to being economically stable. This is to say, that Rhode Island offers basically nothing that cannot be found elsewhere. Until our economy provides something that is only available here or only available at its highest quality in or from Rhode Island there will be little reason to expect a speedy recovery.

With all of the recent outsourcing of jobs, coupled with the over-abundance of tax hemorrhaging government jobs job scarcity continues to be a crippling issue. Until we as a society can get away from the attractive but dangerous habit of expecting the government to bail out the private, we have no reason to expect the economy to be salvaged.

Specifically to Rhode Island, we have seen the private sector being outsourced to where tax is more beneficial while backlash against government jobs is a daily conversation. Since many pundits and voters have called for pension reform, Rhode Island has continued to experience revenue shrinkage as federal spending is reduced.

Rhode Island has found itself between a rock and a hard place. Societal barriers are not the largest reason for RI’s stagflation or non-existant growth. The following factors are merely a few issues in need of addressing in order to create jobs:

• Lower class liberal bias– The impoverished masses that continue to reap the benefits of social programs that do not strive to better their situation (ie. those who only take from the system) are killing our economy. Those who use certain social programs to either gain an education for example are using the system the way it was intended and to them criticism is not appropriate. Those who use welfare as a crutch when they are capable of bettering themselves are creating a black hole to our society.
•  Excessive regulation- No one could assert that regulation is unneeded, although excessive regulation leads businesses to seek both outsourcing from the state, as well as from the country.
• Competitive taxing of neighboring states- With states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York in relatively close proximity to any reach of Rhode Island, it is very easy for our businesses and more qualified workers to seek more prosperous markets in these close states.
• Lack of ownership within community- Although many corporations have been the antithesis of this point (Tom Ryan and CVS for example), in Rhode Island corporations seem to lack a sense of ownership in community. Philanthropy is not just good public relations, but can be a great investment financially as well. Philanthropy does not however need to be monetary-it can come in the form of volunteerism or donating products and services. Philanthropy can result in higher awareness of businesses and organizations resulting in growth, but also can provide an empowerment of your consumer. The Tom Ryan example is the most significant and immense so thus should not be considered a benchmark for all organizations but is worth noting. By providing the University of Rhode Island with the Ryan Center as well as making lofty contributions to the development of a new state-of-the-art pharmacy building, Ryan has helped boost the image and revenue of URI. By boosting URI’s brand image he has put a higher value on the education at the institution and increased the potential for employment after graduation. If these students stay in Rhode Island this then becomes a great investment for the state as well as CVS. With more jobs, and revenue their market share can grow more rapidly than if their consumers did not have the capital to purchase from them. Plus, perhaps their image has improved garnering more brand loyalty and market share.

 

In short, Rhode Island is a place that must continue to take care of itself. The upcoming generation will be the new workforce going into the future and must understand why being informed can be so important to our well-being. Through increased education and seeking a fairly balanced budget, we should expect more job opportunities to be created and filled.

Aspirations

Wouldn’t that be nice.

Barack O’Romney

With Rhode Island currently experiencing economic woes, and an impending election on the horizon Rhody must consider what each candidate offers to them specifically. In today’s political climate, it can be dangerous to conform to a bipartisan system by solely voting left or right. As a people, the decision can be looked at as simple: Do we elect the socially capable liberal, or the savvy economic-minded conservative.

In no way is this an easy decision however based on the needs of our state, we can make a responsible decision. It is important to remain constantly aware that the economic downturn is exacerbated by social problems, while social problems are often created by economic downturn.

Rhode Island initially built its economy on manufacturing, production, fishing and exporting jewelry–many of these such organizations have since been outsourced or bankrupted. Also, governmental regulation has significantly hindered industries such as fishing and manufacturing. Thus, the employment rate has plummeted while the majority of jobs being held are government jobs which require excessive taxation to provide.

The paradox is simple. Rhode Island must determine what was the initial cause of this economic downturn. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Once we can determine whether the social issues stem from economic downturn or vice-versa, then we can decide which presidential candidate offers the most potential in November.

Furthermore, we must continue to build up our economic diversity by either returning to the industries that once contributed to the settling of Rhode Island or creating new industries. Currently unemployment in Rhode Island is still experiencing a negative growth rate. Rather than over taxing an already unemployed/underemployed market is clearly not the answer. It is going to prove crucial that Rhode Island creates more jobs that do not operate within the government in order to flow income more evenly, and also assure that not all taxes are spent on government salaries.

With all of this in mind, I assert that this election will prove to be of great consequence in Rhode Island. Whether the current president is replaced or holds office, we will see a change in the metaphorical tide here in the Ocean State.