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Flagging Economy Needs Public Investment
By Charles Bell, Vice-Chair, NJFAC
As the American economy continues to struggle in the wake of
the mortgage crisis, the recent economic stimulus package passed
by Congress falls far short of what is really needed. Congress
should be considering far bolder measures to create jobs and increase
public investment in our neglected infrastructure and services,
thereby creating the basis for future prosperity and a fair economy.
Even when unemployment is relatively low, America has a huge
chronic deficit of decent work. In 2006, 7 million people on average
were officially unemployed at any given time. Another 4.2 million
wanted full time work but were forced to work part-time. Millions
more were working at wages that are grossly inadequate.
At the same time, the US faces a chronic deficit of investment
in vital human and physical resources, including roads, bridges,
dams, drinking water systems, schools, health and child and elder
care.
The measures recently passed by the House of Representatives
and Senate do virtually nothing to address these serious twin
deficits of jobs and public infrastructure. In the short term,
Congress must do more to directly assist unemployed and underemployed
workers with unemployment compensation and food stamps, which
are more likely to be spent immediately than tax rebates. It should
also provide financial support for state and local government,
whose tax receipts will decline precipitously with an economic
downturn.
But looking down the road, the stimulus package enacted by Congress
should ideally link short-term actions to stop the economic pain
to long-term policies that will restore infrastructure and services,
and create hundreds of thousands of living wage jobs.
Over the last year, the National Jobs for All Coalition reviewed
pending legislation in Congress, and identified many good proposals
to create literally millions of new good jobs in such fields as
housing, energy, construction and human services. We recently
published the results of our findings in a pamphlet called “Shared
Prosperity and the Drive for Decent Work,” which is available
at www.njfac.org/.
We urge Congress to increase federal funding for rebuilding the
ailing US infrastructure, constructing affordable housing, and
investing in clean energy and in essential public services. Such
public investments would both create good jobs and improve the
quality of life for all of us.
Here’s a short outline of our proposed program:
First, Congress should expand federal investment in roads, bridges,
dams, drinking water and sanitation systems, and schools. There
are vast unmet needs in each area. Congress should hold hearings
and enact an initial package as a first step in closing the gap
in infrastructure investment. Accelerating targeted investments
could quickly assist unemployed workers in particular sectors.
Second, Congress should expand affordable housing opportunities
and boost residential construction by passing the National Affordable
Housing Trust Fund Act in the Senate.
Third, Congress should promote conservation, develop renewable
energy, and expand funding for research toward greater efficiency
and new energy sources. As proposed by the Center for American
Progress, such initiatives could include increasing weatherization
assistance, extending and increasing tax credits for energy efficiency
and social energy, expanding funds for worker training for Green
Jobs, and employing youth to assist with conservation programs.
Fourth, Congress should increase federal funding for critically
needed community services such as Head Start, the Child Care and
Development Block Grant, after school programs, and grants for
library construction and modernization. Such investments will
create jobs, improve educational opportunities for youth, and
greatly enhance the quality of life in local communities.
While some people will likely worry that the US can’t afford
a program like the one we’ve described, we wonder how we
can afford NOT to do it. In fact, public job creation turns out
to be much less expensive than many people think, because it boosts
worker spending power, and in turn creates many additional jobs
and tax revenues. To monitor the economic benefits and expenses
of public job creation, we’re calling for establishment
of a National Employment Accounting Office that would track the
overall benefits of the jobs that are created, including the many
economic benefits for users of infrastructure and public services.
In the long run, the federal and state governments would also
save the many costs involved in maintaining a partly-idle and
underemployed workforce, and the many social problems caused by
joblessness. For example, as a society, we are currently spending
much more to incarcerate adults in prison than we do to create
jobs for unemployed youth. Many of our current social problems
would be far easier to solve if we provided decent, living-wage
jobs for everyone who wants to work.
We recognize that this is an ambitious program in the current
political environment, but it is also one that can fire the public
imagination. With levees failing in New Orleans and bridges collapsing
in Minnesota, this is an excellent time for a public debate about
smart strategies to address our nation’s unmet needs for
public investment and good jobs. Let’s encourage Congress
and the next president to think big about restoring America’s
economic vitality and shared prosperity for all.
Charles Bell is vice president of the National Jobs for All Coalition,
a national network of organizations and individuals working to
build a new movement for full employment at livable wages. See
www.njfac.org
From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2008
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