On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released July’s unemployment numbers, which showed 162,000 jobs created and a decline in the unemployment rate from 7.6% to 7.4% as more and more Americans dropped out of the labor force.
Perhaps even more telling, of the top employers in the United States today, Kelly Services, a temporary work provider, is number second only to Wal-Mart. On radio this morning, Glenn compared a list of the top five U.S. companies of 1955 to the top five companies today, and the differences are staggering.
“Well, they're talking about bailing out Detroit and almost everybody in America except for the Democrats in power, and those in Detroit are against it. I'm sorry. Bail out Detroit,” Glenn asked. “Haven't we already done the bailout for Detroit? We bailed out GM. And where is GM in the top five employers?”
“Back in 1955, though, they were number one, the biggest employer in America,” Pat interjected.
In 1955, the top five employers were:
1. General Motors
“We destroyed GM,” Glenn said. “The reason why it's not number one or not even on the top five is because we destroyed it. Number 2?”
2. U.S. Steel
“We destroyed that,” Glenn said.
3. General Electric
“They are destroying us,” Glenn explained, “but they are not on the top five anymore.”
4. Chrysler
“Destroyed it,” Glenn said frankly.
5. Standard Oil
“Destroyed it,” Glenn said.
While the decline of these companies could be attributed to any number of things, there is a larger conversation to be had about the decline of American ingenuity.
“And look at that. Every single one of those things, the world needed to come to us," Glenn explained. "Now our top is Wal‑Mart, Kelly Temps, McDonald's, Taco Bell. The world's not coming to us going, ‘We have got to get us some of that McDonald's. No, seriously we're not going to make it as a country if we don't have a Filet O' Fish now.’”
“Nobody can put together a Filet O' Fish like we can,” Pat quipped. “Seriously.”