CONSIDER THE ECONOMY AGAIN!
It is becoming exhausting, listening to all the political positions about what to do with the economy now that it seems hell-bent on doing some serious damage.
A couple months ago I shared a few simple thoughts on innovation, mostly from a business perspective. I’d like to add something at this stage that could incorporate both (yes, I know I’m suggesting some sort of cooperation here) the public and private sectors, innocent that I am!
A million years ago, after graduating from college my first job out of the chute was to administer one of the early Workfare programs in the nation for a county in Iowa. At its core, it required anyone on Welfare (that was not disabled) to work to continue receiving their checks. The goal was to gradually transition them into the workplace, with the government paying their salary while the person ‘worked’ at a ‘for-profit business’. After some period of time, the recipient would be hired by the business, thereby getting the individual off Welfare. While not everyone placed was permanently hired, many people were.
Well, why not do something like that now? Why not take all the people that are currently on unemployment and require them to work to keep getting unemployment? They would be placed in a business environment for say, six months with the government continuing their ‘paycheck’ – which is an unemployment check, while the business paid for insurance, say, or got a modest tax credit in some way for ‘hiring’ an unemployed person. After six months, or less if mutually agreed upon, the business then would hire the person for a regular salary, and said business would get a tax credit (let’s pretend it’s a big fat tax credit), and person X is off unemployment.
The jig would be that the business had to keep the new employee (who has already been time-tested, by the way) on their payroll for say, twelve months to get the big fat tax credit. And keep in mind they've already 'tested the person's ability and gotten a 'free employee' for six months!! Everybody wins. Doesn’t everybody win?? If there is some rule or legislation that needs to be changed to accommodate this, for crying out loud, let’s just do it. I mean, how hard can this be?
It is staggering, staggering, all of the “yes we can’t’s” going around on both sides!! I, for one, am bone tired of the nah, nah, nah’s and I know I’m not alone in this. While there is lots of blame to go around for our current economic quagmire, it is time we stop screeching and start raising some creative thought; generate some new/old ideas to try. So what if they fail. What on earth do we think is happening right now?
And some ideas will succeed. My guess is there are other innovative ideas wedding the public and private sectors, not to mention drawing on some traditional ideas that did work in the late 30’s and 40’s for both the private industry and in the government sector. If we don’t do something pretty quick, the ‘have’s and the have-not’s’ will all morph into ‘have-not’s’ because no one will be left to buy what the current ‘have’s’ even produce!
There are lots of 'infastructure' ideas being bandied about and WPA style projects, too, that could be tied to a 'work requirement' to receive unemployment compensation. I'm sure there are other robust ideas floating around out there, some of which need not increase a deficit dramatically, and can also stimulate businesses to hire people at a 'reduced' cost, at least for a time.
The cacophony of nay-sayers need not drown out promising solutions. After all, as Roosevelt so wisely said, "we have nothing to fear but fear itself". And fear will bankrupt America for sure.
You are absolutely right. Something has to be done. Americans have gotten to very used to being taken care of by the government and I believe are too dumb to realize the government isn't doing such a great job and really doesn't have their best interests at heart.
Congress and the House are more interested in their time off and lining their own pockets than effectively dealing with the nations problems.