The Christian Science Monitor posed an interesting set of eight ways to reduce unemployment in its December 6, 2009 issue that make pretty good sense. Two of them - training workers for 21st employment and direct spending by the Federal government for projects that will create jobs - work. So far. summer youth jobs, infrastructure and energy/environmental services are three areas that have produced real jobs for people. There ought to be some thinking about global competitiveness, particularly in higher cost advanced manufacturing, where the Federal government should inject significant funds to aid US companies to compete by producing subsidized products initially and as costs go down, competitive ones.
Investing taxpayer funds in rebuilding a manufacturing sector focused on high tech, advanced textiles, biological products, chemicals and specialty vehicles to level the playing field with other nations that subsidize their startup and competing industries is not an ideological choice, it is an economic and job creation choice.