Facing the realities of a changing economy:

E.D. Kain writes about how we should deal with it:

Jobs, Welfare, and the Human Economy

... What we need right now, in the immediate term, is a series of massive public works projects. Kevin Drum wants $1 trillion in infrastructure spending over five years. I suspect we’d need more like $1 trillion per year for the next five years.

There’s an old saying that a job is the best form of welfare. “Teach a man to fish…” and all that. This is true enough for what it’s worth, which is not really all that much. Yes, you can have too much welfare and too much dependency on the state. But in a market economy some form of non-job welfare or state provision of services is simply necessary.

For one thing, in a market economy there will be constant adjustments in industry, and the demand for one skill set will quickly be replaced with demand for another. Entire labor pools can become irrelevant overnight. Jobs disappear through no fault of anyone at all. New demand, new technology, globalism – these are the culprits, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them because we’re all a part of it. Jobs may indeed be the best “welfare”, but if those jobs simply disappear, a lot of people are left without too many options beyond actual assistance. This is especially true during a bad recession.

Jobs are great, but welfare should be used to thwart the inherent economic uncertainty of a capitalistic, global society. People should not lose their insurance just because they’ve lost their job. Universal healthcare would go a long way toward allowing people to be more independent, more entrepreneurial, and less risk-averse in their private ambitions. I think that in the emerging service economy – with more and more people working outside of the normal constraints of office and industry jobs, as freelancers and contractors – this will become even more important. Far from discouraging work, the right kind of welfare can do just the opposite.

posted by Quiddity at 9/07/2011 01:49:00 AM

About that debt ceiling business:

Chait:

The debt ceiling hostage crisis was a political catastrophe for both Obama and Congressional Republicans. He came away looking weak. they came away looking crazy. The episode, though, had more than political ramifications. It had economic ramifications. Confidence in the economy -- the number one conservative explanation for economic weakness -- took a real and justified plunge.

The Republicans pursued a strategy that torpedoed the economic recovery, and, indeed, may well bring about a double-dip recession. Voters may punish House republicans at the polls in 2012, but they're at least as likely to punish Obama. That Republicans may gain the White House on the shoulders of a Republican-induced recession offers lessons about the incentive structure of our divided system of government that are frightening to contemplate.

posted by Quiddity at 9/06/2011 07:45:00 AM

Billionaire Pete Peterson has won:

LATimes:

California voters are increasingly downcast about the direction of the country, but — like their leaders in Washington — many would rather adhere to party orthodoxy than compromise to address the current economic problems, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll shows.

The findings offer little guidance for President Obama, who will unveil a jobs package this week that he hopes to push through a polarized Congress. Further troubling for the president: The survey results suggest that Republicans, even in deep-blue California, are winning the rhetorical war of words over how to frame the country's economic troubles, and how to get out of them.

Although Obama has previously called for strategic government investments to stimulate the economy, only 37% of California voters said they favor such an approach. Instead, the Republican view — that slashing government spending to restrain the deficit will better lead to prosperity — was preferred by 49% of respondents, according to the survey sponsored by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and The Times.

posted by Quiddity at 9/06/2011 03:53:00 AM

A liberal Republican's lament about contemporary politics:

A great essay by Mike Lofgren.

Longish, but reads quickly. Doesn't hold back at all. I consider it essential reading.

I agree with everything he writes, including economic and demographic observations. Mostly it's about Republicans but Washington Democrats get deserved criticism.


posted by Quiddity at 9/04/2011 03:40:00 PM

Consensus developing on Obama's jobs speech:

Dave Weigel tweets:

EXCLUSIVE: Obama's speech isn't going to change anything anyway

Ezra Klein in a less snarky mode:

Obama’s speech will achieve nothing. It will go nowhere because it has nowhere to go. A speech can rally the base, and maybe even temporarily change the topic in the news. But it can’t change the fundamental fact of politics right now, which is that the two parties disagree on the most profound question in Washington. It’s not: How do we fix the economy? It is: Who should win the next election?

So long as Republicans and Democrats disagree on that, there will be no significant cooperation on substantive issues. Boehner simply will not cut off his party’s candidates at the knees, especially its presidential contenders, by handing Obama a major economic accomplishment. Because he controls the House of Representatives, that means Obama -- and, by extension, the U.S. -- is not going to get a major economic accomplishment.

SITE NOTE: Been down with the flu for a week. Who gets the flu in August? Bummer.


posted by Quiddity at 9/01/2011 09:10:00 PM