Saturday, October 13, 2012

Jim Rogers doubts US government jobs data

Top investor Jim Rogers has some doubts about the data that the US government is feeding to the public about the US unemployment. According to the authorities in the United States of America there is decline in the unemployment in the States, but Rogers thinks that the administration is misleading the public. The US jobless rate dropped to 7.8 percent last month, the lowest since US President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, according to a report released on Friday by the US Department of Labor. The labor agency also revised previous numbers to show the US economy created 86,000 more jobs in July and August than first estimated.

Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum hedge fund, Expressed his skepticism about the reported improvement in the US job market. According to the investor, the latest round of quantitative easing will not fix the US economy. "I have learned not to take advice from the government, especially the US government, which frequently misleads its citizens," Rogers said in a media briefing in Taipei.

"There is an election coming in the US and the administration wants to win", he also said. Rogers added that most other institutes believe US unemployment remains worse than the official statistics suggest. "Even if the reported drop in the US’ unemployment rate is true, it has nothing to do with the US Federal Reserve’s third round of quantitative easing that was initiated last month", believes Rogers.

"Printing money has never worked throughout history," he said. "Sometimes it worked in the short term, but it’s never worked in the medium or long term." He gave as an example Zimbabwe, saying that if printing money could ameliorate debt, the cash-strapped African country would be a wild economic success. By early 2009, the Zimbabwean dollar was rendered effectively worthless as the government issued bills in denominations of up to 100 trillion dollars in a bid to rein in debt problems, which instead heightened inflation and poverty.

According to Rogers, it is better to admit one’s mistakes and accept the reality of the situation so things could be improved once the worst part is over. Rogers, who is currently based in Shanghai, also said China is right in trying to slow its economy down for the past three years because of its inflation and property problems. "It is the right thing to do for China as economic conditions in Japan and the West slow down," he said.

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