Townhall Finance – The familiar saying used to be, “I can afford it, but I don’t want it.”  Conversely, now it’s “I want it, but I can’t afford it.”

Over the past few days, I’ve been studying both liberal and conservative columnists who have been analyzing the reasons for the pathetic so-called job recovery.  If one were to only look at the stock market, a claim could be made that the recovery is in full bloom — of course that’s the White House spin.  However, all the aforementioned pundits have been trying to figure out why the reality of job growth doesn’t measure up with the fantasy of the stock market.

If you listen to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), as most in the media do, you would believe there is a lack of qualified workers.  Other industries would echo that tune while also proclaiming that job skills diminish the longer a person is out of work, thus further reducing one’s qualifications.  This fact was recently reinforced by a very good friend of mine, Sam.  He’s a thirty-year carpenter who’s been out of taxable and measurable work for well over a year.  In fact, he even told me he’s having a very tough time determining which end of the hammer to use.  However, according to Sam, the underground economy seems to be alive and well.     More