Although Americans don’t see these stories on TV or in the newspapers, here’s what the global recovery looks like:

1. “Grand China Suspends Trans-Pacific Service” (Oct 31, 2011)
“Grand China has become the latest niche carrier to suspend a trans-Pacific service because of deteriorating conditions in the U.S. import trade from China.”
– Translation: Americans aren’t buying because they’re unemployed.

2. “NOL Loses $ 91 Million, Expects Full-Year Loss” (Oct. 31, 2011)
“The liner shipping industry is faced with slowing trade demand …”
– Translation: Americans aren’t buying because they’re unemployed.

3. “NYK Loses $ 150 Million in ‘Increasingly Severe’ First Half” (Oct. 31, 2011)
“NYK … expects little improvement in the rest of its fiscal year. It said a sluggish global economy will produce ‘tepid’ container volume …”
– Translation: Americans aren’t buying because they’re unemployed.

4. “MOL Loses $ 214.8 Million in First Half” (Oct. 31, 2011)
“MOL said container ship and tanker cargo volumes and rates ‘were stagnant due to uncertainty over the European and U.S. economies’ …”
– Translation: Americans aren’t buying because they’re unemployed.

5. “‘K’ Line Loses $ 242.7 Million in ‘Adverse’ Market” (Oct. 31, 2011)
“‘We anticipate that demand in the container ship segment will remain uncertain for the time being because of financial instability in Europe, sluggish consumer spending, and the slow recovery of unemployment in the United States,’ the company said.”
– Translation: Americans aren’t buying because they’re unemployed.

6. “West Coast Container Imports Fell 7 Percent in September” (Nov. 2, 2011)
“Container volume at West Coast ports declined 2 percent year-over-year in September, as a 7 percent drop in imports further reinforced a disappointing peak shipping season.”
– Translation: Americans aren’t buying because they’re unemployed.

The solution? Create jobs. How? The brain trust in Washington knows only one word – “infrastructure”. Repair the roads, the bridges, the pot holes, etc., etc., they keep preaching, but that’s exactly what failed in the early days of the Great Depression. It was the WPA thing. It was “make work”. It’s what we’re hearing about now. When all was said and done, however, the WPA left us with repaired roads, bridges, pot holes – and an ongoing Great Depression. It wasn’t until war clouds forced FDR to revitalize our shipyards that meaningful, long-lasting jobs were created.

Don’t those idiots in D.C. know anything at all? Are they really thick – or just plain thieves?