Thursday, February 9, 2012

Phony Jobs in Australia as well as USA

We have a situation in Australia where we have jobs I regard as "fake", or "non-productive" at best. A prime example is roadside safety workers. Some years ago, automated systems were deployed at some sites which used to switch traffic flow from one direction to another when a roadway was narrowed so workers could improve the road. We now have zero automation, and a swag of people out there keeping vigil on the smallest of sites. This was initiated by a media campaign for well over a year to scare the public into thinking the extras were really necessary. Now, many who would be on benefits are standing round doing very little, and doing it only moderately well in many cases. Poor guys (and women); it's "boring as bat-shit"! Back in the Great Depression, we built much outstanding infrastructure, like the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. I wonder what we could achieve if people working phony safety jobs and non-productive service jobs were participating in producing something of value for Australia. My rant over, here is the article that triggered these thoughts (and yes, I am sure our figures are 'tweaked' too)... PHONY DATA: America's "January Jobs" are Statistical Artifacts

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