Jim Stillman
Nevar
No. 1 issue: JOBS!
July 5th 2010 18:57
Americans have a plethora of concerns. None is as important as jobs.
Barack Obama became president in the midst of crises.
The economy of the nation was in tatters; huge financial institutions which had been considered solid as Gibraltar had foundations of worthless assets and outright chicanery, international respect for the United States had been diminished by the unilateral and arrogant behavior of the previous administration, and, worse, a growing number of people had lost faith in the ability of the government to make things right. While many in the Tea Party movements were being led and used by Republican operatives, motivated by bigotry and sheer ignorance, a substantial number of people showing up at the rallies were frustrated and afraid, turning to weird conspiracy theories to explain and justify their frustration and fear.
To his credit, President Obama began to attack the problems, in the face of a minority opposition party hoping that he would fail. The president has pushed through financial industry reforms (although not as comprehensive as I would have preferred), health care reforms (although not the single-payer system that had been hoped for) and has increased this nation’s influence internationally by reaching out to countries we favor and nations that we do not.
All of this will be for naught, however, if the masses of people do not have employment. Bob Herbert, in the New York Times,
Fifteen million Americans are unemployed, according to the official count, which wildly understates the reality. Assuming no future economic setbacks and job creation at a rate of 200,000 or so a month, it would take more than a decade to get us back to where we were when the Great Recession began in December 2007. But we’re nowhere near that kind of sustained job growth. Last month, a measly 41,000 private-sector jobs were created.
****
But Americans struggling in a down economy are worried about the survival of their families. Destitution is beckoning for those whose unemployment benefits are running out, and that crowd of long-term jobless men and women is expanding rapidly.
*****
Employment is the No. 1 issue for most ordinary Americans. Their anxiety on this front only grows as they watch teachers, firefighters and police officers lining up to walk the unemployment plank as state and local governments wrestle with horrendous budget deficits.
Paradoxically, many of the people most critical of the president fault him for not preventing the massive unemployment numbers, for increasing the budgetary deficit and for expanding the role of government in their lives. Yet, in my opinion and that of leading economists, the federal government must spend more to stimulate the economy, temporarily increasing the budgetary deficit and postponing any “austerity” actions to a future date when the economy has stabilized and unemployment reduced. There is no historical precedent for austerity, reduction of taxes and decreased government spending ending a recession!
What should the federal government do in the immediate future, now? Ignore the fear mongers who urge austerity and promote fear.
Whom can you trust for advice? The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has been accepted as authoritative. The CBO has recommended that the federal government increase stimulus spending. Its Director, Doug Elmendorf, has suggested,
This is an opportunity to spend our way out of the unemployment crisis and, at the same time addresses to major needs of the country. First, this is a time when we should address the need to find and address the search and development of non-fossil fuels. We should pump money promoting the development of solar energy, wind generators and electric generation by means other than oil or coal. I hesitate to suggest rapid extension of nuclear power plants because of the possibility of mishap which could create wider and longer lasting damage than the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe! There are technologies that have not been invented; there are inventions that have not been developed.
In the midst of a recession in the 1950’s, President Eisenhower pushed through what was, arguably, the most expansive and expensive public works project in modern times, the Interstate Highway system. While the project was first viewed as a national defense issue, it was soon recognized and appreciated as a stimulus to the economy and a way to reduce unemployment . . . and end up with something that has proved to be of inestimable worth to the country.
An interesting research study on the concept of “supply side” economics, that which President Bust (41) called “voo-doo”, is presented at
Really Long Link
In addition for the search for non-fossil fuel and energy sources, federal stimulus money should be used to restore the nation’s rail system including local light rail systems. If there were alternative public transportation available in our cities, our dependence on private automobiles for commuting to or finding employment would be diminished. Other industrial countries are far, far ahead of us; France, Germany, Japan are among the countries where high-speed rail, light rail and other means of public transportation are commonplace.
In short, the president has a win-win opportunity. It is up to him to grasp that opportunity. There’s time to act but little to waste.
Barack Obama became president in the midst of crises.
The economy of the nation was in tatters; huge financial institutions which had been considered solid as Gibraltar had foundations of worthless assets and outright chicanery, international respect for the United States had been diminished by the unilateral and arrogant behavior of the previous administration, and, worse, a growing number of people had lost faith in the ability of the government to make things right. While many in the Tea Party movements were being led and used by Republican operatives, motivated by bigotry and sheer ignorance, a substantial number of people showing up at the rallies were frustrated and afraid, turning to weird conspiracy theories to explain and justify their frustration and fear.
To his credit, President Obama began to attack the problems, in the face of a minority opposition party hoping that he would fail. The president has pushed through financial industry reforms (although not as comprehensive as I would have preferred), health care reforms (although not the single-payer system that had been hoped for) and has increased this nation’s influence internationally by reaching out to countries we favor and nations that we do not.
All of this will be for naught, however, if the masses of people do not have employment. Bob Herbert, in the New York Times,
Fifteen million Americans are unemployed, according to the official count, which wildly understates the reality. Assuming no future economic setbacks and job creation at a rate of 200,000 or so a month, it would take more than a decade to get us back to where we were when the Great Recession began in December 2007. But we’re nowhere near that kind of sustained job growth. Last month, a measly 41,000 private-sector jobs were created.
But Americans struggling in a down economy are worried about the survival of their families. Destitution is beckoning for those whose unemployment benefits are running out, and that crowd of long-term jobless men and women is expanding rapidly.
*****
Employment is the No. 1 issue for most ordinary Americans. Their anxiety on this front only grows as they watch teachers, firefighters and police officers lining up to walk the unemployment plank as state and local governments wrestle with horrendous budget deficits.
Paradoxically, many of the people most critical of the president fault him for not preventing the massive unemployment numbers, for increasing the budgetary deficit and for expanding the role of government in their lives. Yet, in my opinion and that of leading economists, the federal government must spend more to stimulate the economy, temporarily increasing the budgetary deficit and postponing any “austerity” actions to a future date when the economy has stabilized and unemployment reduced. There is no historical precedent for austerity, reduction of taxes and decreased government spending ending a recession!
What should the federal government do in the immediate future, now? Ignore the fear mongers who urge austerity and promote fear.
Whom can you trust for advice? The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has been accepted as authoritative. The CBO has recommended that the federal government increase stimulus spending. Its Director, Doug Elmendorf, has suggested,
There is no intrinsic contradiction between providing additional fiscal stimulus today, while the unemployment rate is high and many factories and offices are underused, and imposing fiscal restraint several years from now, when output and employment will probably be close to their potential.
This is an opportunity to spend our way out of the unemployment crisis and, at the same time addresses to major needs of the country. First, this is a time when we should address the need to find and address the search and development of non-fossil fuels. We should pump money promoting the development of solar energy, wind generators and electric generation by means other than oil or coal. I hesitate to suggest rapid extension of nuclear power plants because of the possibility of mishap which could create wider and longer lasting damage than the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe! There are technologies that have not been invented; there are inventions that have not been developed.
In the midst of a recession in the 1950’s, President Eisenhower pushed through what was, arguably, the most expansive and expensive public works project in modern times, the Interstate Highway system. While the project was first viewed as a national defense issue, it was soon recognized and appreciated as a stimulus to the economy and a way to reduce unemployment . . . and end up with something that has proved to be of inestimable worth to the country.
An interesting research study on the concept of “supply side” economics, that which President Bust (41) called “voo-doo”, is presented at
Really Long Link
In addition for the search for non-fossil fuel and energy sources, federal stimulus money should be used to restore the nation’s rail system including local light rail systems. If there were alternative public transportation available in our cities, our dependence on private automobiles for commuting to or finding employment would be diminished. Other industrial countries are far, far ahead of us; France, Germany, Japan are among the countries where high-speed rail, light rail and other means of public transportation are commonplace.
In short, the president has a win-win opportunity. It is up to him to grasp that opportunity. There’s time to act but little to waste.
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