Tom Harkin: “I thank the Chair. Mr. Huber, in his article in Forbes said: Here's why stock prices are really supposed to fall.…”

“I thank the Chair. Mr. Huber, in his article in Forbes said: Here's why stock prices are really supposed to fall. Employment rates rise above some critical flash point. So wages rise sharply. So prices of goods rise-- just as rising wages are boosting demand. Inflation soars. So interest rates go up. Stock prices crash. This is a perfectly sound theory, but it requires some facts. Where's the critical flash point? Do the employment statistics mean what they used to mean? Do they mean anything at all? Officially speaking, America hasn't yet discovered microwave ovens or women's lib. Bone-weary though she may be, the stay-at-home mother doesn't labor at all in the eyes of employment statisticians. But she could, easily enough. With one new mom working at a day care center, three other moms can enter the official work force when they choose. So long as many women remain ambivalent about where to work, in the home or out, the supply of labor will remain far more elastic than the statistics suggest. Memo to Alan Greenspan: Wire roses to Gloria Steinem. Again, I am reading from the article that was in Forbes written by Mr. Peter Huber. Labor markets have stretched into the home; they have also spilled out of the country. A U.S. multinational doesn't raise wages in Maine if it can shift production to a more elastic labor market in Mexico. Labor statistics, in short, don't mean much unless they track where goods are produced and consumed.”