Well, the S&P rating loss we alluded to last evening has now occurred and will impact us all. President Obama tried to apply lipstick to the historic error when he subsequently stated that "private sector" jobs gained 154,000. (Unfortunatly, 37,000 government jobs were lost in the same period). We noted that government jobs in 2009 averaged $39.83 per hour versus private sector employment at $27.49 according to economist Mark J. Perry http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/02/two-americas-public-sector-vs-private.html.Why is that so?
Time for CHANGE:
The Work Progress Administration, you may recall, was part of the New Deal back in 1935. The program poured $4.8 billion directly into the hands of working men and women. Plan Administrator Harry Hopkins was surely correct when he averred, "Give a man a dole, and you save his body and destroy his spirit. Give a man a job and you save both body and spirit."
Perhaps a combination of unemployment benefits and public works could be a formula to improve our fixed asset base while stimulating the grass roots economy directly. Past WPA projects constructed 651,087 miles of roads, streets and highways, built 124,031 bridges, 125,110 public buildings and 8,192 public parks while stimulating existing private sector businesses and increasing employment. Carpe Diem?
All the best to you.
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