A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste stimulus to do a New Deal 2.0. Initiatives like infrastructure spending put people to work, but how about a national training campaign? This is a long-term stimulant to the economy that yields economic benefit long after a recession or depression because people hold onto what they’ve learned. The top job openings in the U.S. are chronically open (nurses, many health care tech positions, computer administrators, truck drivers, etc.). We have had an acute skills gap in the U.S. as technology has rapidly changed and the requisite skills have simultaneously changed. Do you want people to work? Teach them the skills they need to work. It also helps businesses that chronically complain they can’t find workers with the skills they need. Use federal funds to pay for the training of willing participants. It will be cheaper than chronically paying unemployment insurance, paying for Medicaid and food stamps, and high incarceration rates. Women have left the workforce in droves during this pandemic and if we want them to return, how about subsidizing quality childcare, early education and better teacher pay? These programs essentially pay for themselves in the medium and long run because workers feed back into the system by paying taxes. Such initiatives are politically neutral because no one argues with putting people to work. And while we are at it, audit the top job openings in the U.S. and work with K-12 and higher education to train youth for the jobs of today. 16 Business in Colorado Magazine 2021 Working collectively All of this will also increase our global competitiveness . WORKING COLLECTIVELY I think it’s thoroughly American to think about and work towards helping other Americans regardless of anyone’s political affiliation. I think it’s thoroughly American to realize how great we are, but how hard we must collectively work to maintain or regain our greatness. As an example, experts said a pandemic was coming (and no one believed them). Climate experts are saying we are reaching the point of no return in terms of irreversible and incredibly expensive, catastrophic impacts from carbon emissions. I know public health and economics and not the science of climate, but I trust good Americans and world citizens who are climate experts. Environmental challenges are the next pandemic. I think it’s thoroughly American to innovate, so why not be a world leader in massive investments in green technologies? Even if you think climate change is a hoax, it’s a great way to create jobs. These are investments in long-term, sustainable economic growth that are also investments in Americans. If we raise everyone up, we are truly one nation under God, indivisible as any strong nation must be. Editor’s note: This article is a summation of a conversation with Morton Seja, economic growth adviser and SolveCast podcaster. Listen to the full podcast on SolveCast.com. Income data from Economic Policy Institute. GORODENKOFF/ADOBE STOCK
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