By Les Dunaway

The recession was pronounced “over” in June 2009 – two years ago – and we still have no real recovery and millions of people out of work. What’s going on? A series of charts from Market Watch gives some of the picture [read].

Well, mostly what’s  happening is that the historical engine of job growth – start-up business – is sputtering, dragged down by the prospect of Obamacare and punitive taxes against the very people whose  businesses could be generating jobs.

A study released by the Kauffman Foundation puts some real numbers around the situation [read]. The summary is that start-ups are “starting smaller” and “staying smaller”. Is it any wonder? The July 11th Rasmussen poll shows that 2/3 of Americans believe we are in a recession and that hiring expectations peaked last November.

There is one bright spot in the Rasmussen survey – most Americans believe that cuts in government spending are a good thing. [read] – it would seem that, as usual, American citizens are smarter than American politicians. That premise is further supported by data from the July 8th Rasmussen -showing that 72% of Americans believe that free markets work better than government planning [read]