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i know, i know. you really need an advanced degrees in economics, politics, finance, accounting, business and government, not to mention decades of experience running your own small business and becoming a billionaire by your bootstraps as well as several terms as a congresscritter to fully appreciate the ins and outs of the complex system that is the american economy.
so it's not surprise that a solution as complicated as this hasn't been seriously discussed in the media or on washington, but well, there it is. they prefer the simple solution of tinkering with tax incentives to coax private sector businesses that profit from layoffs to hire people to sell to consumers who can't afford to buy anything. that sounds so much simpler, i know.
if the government hires a ton of people, guess what? there are a ton fewer unemployed people. and in fact, it's better than that, because as these people would then have paychecks, they would spend the money they finally have, and rich people would want to hire some people to go sop up that extra gravy floating about. if people are finally able to spend, then businesses are finally able to sell and make a profit by delivering goods and services, as opposed to laying off people.
wait, i know you're going to object about the cost. turns out that it doesn't cost nearly as much. each dollar spent on extra jobs is offset by fewer dollars in unemployment insurance, welfare, aid to states and other forms of direct or indirect assistance. then some of those dollars come back in the form of income taxes. and remember that knock-on effect, where those new hires spend money and the businesses finally get going? that means more taxes from them as well. so the overall cost isn't nearly what you might think. and whatever you need, you could borrow and nearly zero percent and/or tax the seriously undertaxed rich.
are you worried about inflation if we borrow too much for this? well, aside from the fact that inflation doesn't seem to be a problem these days, IF we should actually get serious inflation, it turns out that THAT problem we know how to solve. remember when carter's fed appointee paul volcker jacked up interest rates sky high? yeah, it sucked for a few years but it worked, and we haven't had serious inflation since.
and what do i say to people who say "but that's socialism"? i say, no, it's having someone bust their butt 40 hours a week to repair a bridge or a road that's open to everyone and every business in the public to benefit from, then compensating them with a few bucks so they can pay their bills and eat and sleep in some level of comfort and sanity instead of letting them suffer and die. if you're more worried about a stupid and innacurate label that might get attached to an idea than you are about the fate of the economy and millions of americans, then i'd suggest that your priorities need a serious readjustment.
our economy has been screwed up long enough. people have been unemployed long enough. it's time to stop hoping that tinkering around the edges will nudge the economy back to some minimally acceptable level of jobs creation.
just hire people and keep hiring people until there's no serious unemployment problem. PROBLEM SOLVED.
then move on to the next problem. there's always a next problem. don't worry, there's always a solution, too.
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