The Teenagers Can No Longer "Stuff the Channel"

The following chart shows the fraction of the civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 to 19 who are employed. It's basically a brutal combination of an <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=pnJ">extremely high unemployment rate</a> and a <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=pnI">very poor labor force participation rate</a> among those aged 16 to 19.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKJv6LT5UzTT1rU2TlLPkLaSfKK7sVtTZCcSTOQv6UJh7GM2gtYQK1Y8egCzQAJ87CgptgDFjCpl4kIwuPqBxC5vVkpQnlv_9QbDlsqZ6fmdYal6Gmz1Vo0bncE_GTwUfaA5Ap_6lA50/s1600/Percentage+of+Aged+16+to+19+Who+Are+Employed.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKJv6LT5UzTT1rU2TlLPkLaSfKK7sVtTZCcSTOQv6UJh7GM2gtYQK1Y8egCzQAJ87CgptgDFjCpl4kIwuPqBxC5vVkpQnlv_9QbDlsqZ6fmdYal6Gmz1Vo0bncE_GTwUfaA5Ap_6lA50/s320/Percentage+of+Aged+16+to+19+Who+Are+Employed.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Teenagers can't stuff the channel if they are no longer in the channel! As seen in the chart, they are a long, long ways from being in the channel again (if ever).<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_stuffing">Channel Stuffing</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Channel stuffing is the business practice where a company, or a sales force within a company, inflates its sales figures by forcing more products through a distribution channel than the channel is capable of selling to the world at large.</i></div><br />For what it is worth and in the spirit of shady business practices, I think many teenagers are being stuffed. I'm not just talking Thanksgiving Day leftovers either.<br /><br /><b>November 25, 2013</b><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/federal-student-loan-profit/3696009/">USA Today: Government books $41.3 billion in student loan profits</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>The $41.3 billion profit for the 2013 fiscal year is down $3.6 billion from the previous year but <span style="color: red;">it's a higher profit level than all but two companies in the world</span>: Exxon Mobil cleared $44.9 billion in 2012, and Apple cleared $41.7 billion.<br /><br />"It's actually neither accurate nor fair to characterize the student loan program as making a profit," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during a July conference call with reporters after the Free Press and other news media reported on profits from student loans.</i></div><br />I wouldn't characterize it as making a profit. I'd suggest that the main purpose is to stuff the typical teenager with excessive <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20090414a.htm">"lifeblood"</a>. Perhaps that's just me though.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=pnG">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

The Teenagers Can No Longer "Stuff the Channel"

The following chart shows the fraction of the civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 to 19 who are employed. It's basically a brut...

Read more »