Some Charts to Ponder

The economy is looking pretty strong these days. The good people at the Wall Street Journal‘s Daily Shot offer up a couple of interesting charts showing that the ratio of job openings to unemployed workers is at a level not seen in a very long time, which might indicate that we’ll soon see upward movement in wages.

On the other hand, one reason that the official unemployment rate is so low is that the labor force participation rate continues to be very low—will higher wages get some young males out of their parents basements or out from behind gaming screens?

Lastly on the economic front, this chart reminds us that most new jobs are still created by smaller businesses and not Fortune 500 companies, which is just one reminder why getting corporate tax reform right is crucial:

And now as a special bonus, I came across this chart, from a law site behind a paywall, that shows Supreme Court clerk hiring by ethnicity. Amazing, isn’t it, that Ruth Bader Ginsberg appears not to have hired a single black or hispanic law clerk in her two-plus decades on the Court. Notorious RBG indeed! If she were a conservative justice, you can expect you’d hear suggestions that she’s a racist or something.

Chaser:

Justice Thomas Ventures Beyond Elite Schools to Fill Clerkship Posts

Justice Clarence Thomas has earned a reputation as a frequent dissenter during his 26 years on the U.S. Supreme Court bench, and when it comes to the clerks he hires, he also strays from the pack. . .

In a system where justices pull heavily from their own alma maters and a handful of other top schools to fill the coveted slots, Thomas casts the widest net.

What was that again about “diversity”? I didn’t hear you.

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