OF COURSE It is Not "Normal"

for there to be a high rate of unemployment even if the neoliberals love it:

While the fragile U.S. economy is on the way to recovery, it's still far from back to normal, one of President Obama's top economic advisers said Saturday.

"By almost every indicator, the U.S. economy is finally on the road to recovery," said Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at an event held at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

But she cautioned, "When it comes to the economy, we are very far from normal," noting the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.7 percent.

There are now roughly 6.5 million workers who have been unemployed more than 26 weeks, and those workers represent 44 percent of the unemployed, she said.

"Long-term unemployment is cause for serious concern," Romer said. But she disagreed with those that say high unemployment is "the new normal."