Layoffs, outsourcing, and corporate restructuring will eventually take their toll on the US economy. Of course, like our call on the telecoms a few years ago, these things take time.

When you look at the large number of jobs lost in recent years, one has got to take a few steps back and say, how long can the economy and the stock market continue to thrive when hundreds of thousands are losing their jobs?

We already know that outsourcing has been responsible for millions jobs lost over the past 5 years, and the closure of 2,000 manufacturing plants in the US. Since the unemployment rate does not measure jobs lost to outsourcing and foreign workers, the employment numbers being reported are not accurate.

This morning, AT&T (formerly SBC) said they "plan to cut an additional 10,000 jobs as a result of its merger with BellSouth Corp." When AT&T and SBC merged, 13,000 jobs were eliminated.

When you add up all of jobs lost due to restructurings, mergers, and outsourcing, the similarities to the roaring 20's and the depression are eerily similar.