It will continue to undermine a still-fragile housing sector, discourage banks from lending to households and small businesses, and limit the appetite of large companies to invest in new plants and equipment. It will also further polarize an unusually dysfunctional political discourse, worsen income inequality and fuel protest movements around the country.
In recent months, some elected leaders and their appointees have gotten off the sidelines and proposed important policy changes, including President Obama’s jobs initiative. But their efforts have been frustrated by political opposition and, on the economic front, by those searching for the single “killer app” that would allow for dramatic and immediate progress.
Video
The only man Mitt Romney can't stop from ruining his campaign.
There is no killer app. Instead, Congress and the administration need to move simultaneously on three fronts that incorporate multiple measures: those that address the immediate impediments to job creation, including a better mix of demand stimulus and medium-term fiscal reform involving both federal spending and revenue, as well as stronger remedies for housing and housing finance; those that deal with the longer-term enablers of productive employment, such as education, retraining and retooling; and those that strengthen the social safety nets to appropriately protect citizens in the interim.
Have no doubt, this is a complex, multiyear effort that involves several government agencies acting in a delicate, coordinated effort. It will not happen unless our political leaders come together to address what constitutes America’s biggest national challenge. And sustained implementation will not be possible nor effective without much clearer personal accountability.
One would think that, given all this, it has become more than paramount for Washington to elevate — not just in rhetoric but, critically, through sustained actions — the urgency of today’s unemployment crisis to the same level that it placed the financial crisis three years ago. But watching the actions in the nation’s capital, I and many others are worried that our politicians will wait at least until the November elections before dealing more seriously with the unemployment crisis.
Perhaps this is inevitable, given political realities. In the interim, however, let us not confuse chatter about monthly jobs data with the clear and present danger of America losing the war against the curse of joblessness.
Loading...
Comments