Neo-functionalism

This is a difficult term. What does it mean? Neo-functionalism is defined as a growth of technical economic institutions that have required the growth of political institutions as a result. Whew – still don’t have a clue what this means.

This need to compensate economic markets with governance is known as the “spill-over” effect between government institutions and economic growth. This is the first significant difference between the Great Depression and Great Recession. The Social Security Act of 1935 not only created the retirement vehicle we know today, it also created an unemployment insurance program. The Employment Act of 1946 requires the president do everything in his power to prevent another depression.

Public policy conventions recognize that the critical different between deflation and its accompanying large unemployment rates and inflation is that a nation and individual workers can never recover the lost days and years of idle factories and workers. Unemployment insurance has been a vital asset during times of economic woes as it allows the unemployed to remain part of the consumer economy. In 2008, a special extended benefits program was created.

The national unemployment rate for the end of 2010 is 9.3% after its height of 10.4% in February 2010. These figures do not include those who stopped looking and the under-employed. As mentioned earlier, consumer spending represents 70% of the U.S. economy.  If consumers don’t spend, the economy worsens. The federal extension has been a lifesaver for so many families and individuals in the U.S. Most people blame President Obama for the debt increase related to the Federal Unemployment Benefits Extension; what would our economy and country look like without it?

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&ctype=l&strail=false&nselm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=state&tdim=true&tstart=631152000000&tunit=M&tlen=250&hl=en&dl=en