JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

How do we create jobs?

One of the most frustrating aspects of American politics today is the lack of relevant, mature

debate on how to move the nation forward in a time of multiple crises at home and abroad.

Both political parties are rarely prepared to discuss reality free from vitriolic rhetoric these

days. The sad result is historic dysfunction. This is especially true when it comes to the

question of how to create jobs. The only thing that politicians agree about is that it’s the most

important issue facing the nation. Yet there seems to be a gloomy consensus: there are few

tools left in the tool shed that we can agree to use in order to create jobs.

Too many Republicans and their backers think that taking an axe to all government programs

except the army, deregulating industry, all the while lowering all taxes are the end-all solutions

for economic woe.

Meanwhile most Democrats believe we can spend our way out of everything. What have

our biggest recent expenditures achieved? TARP and the Fed bailed out our ailing banks with

trillions of dollars, rewarding bad behavior and allowing lenders to hoard cash and disburse

record bonuses instead of loosening credit, all while underpaying their taxes. Record profits

are being made thanks to financial products nobody understands and which not only don’t help

society, but actively harm it.

The stimulus funds have been spent slowly, inefficiently, and with poor oversight, giving a good

idea a bad name. The trillions spent in Afghanistan and Iraq have achieved uncertain results

at best, damaging the credibility of both political parties along the way. Our foreign aid is

mismanaged and poorly audited. Contrary to partisan ideology, the problem isn’t spending

itself, but HOW government spends those precious dollars. The government isn’t “broke.” We

should also rid ourselves of the notion that government isn’t capable of spending well.

So we know why the doom and gloom. Is it possible to create jobs in a capitalist society led by

an irresponsible government? Of course it is. I implore President Obama and his Republican

challengers to draft policy on the following five simple, common-sense principles, which unlike

everything else in Washington are not driven by partisan ideology. These do not constitute

party platforms; they are an American platform. I want to hear how any of the candidates will

help accomplish the following, or else their arguments against them.

1) Hearken Back to what Made America Great. How did America come to be the world’s

leading superpower? I believe the best answer is that our businesses of all sizes existed

primarily to produce high quality stuff that people needed or wanted to buy. This was

accomplished through constant innovation, excellent customer service, and hard work.

American business has lamentably drifted away from such high-minded attributes in favor of

short-term profit.

The government can’t just legislate excellence or honesty into existence; however, it can

certainly stop rewarding the deadbeats who don’t conform to this paradigm. No more bailouts

and handouts for banks and insurance companies and automobile manufacturers who don’t

bother to build a better mousetrap. Let them earn their dollar the hard way, or else fall. If

corporate leaders defraud the public as they’ve been doing time and time again, put the

perpetrators in jail where they belong. We need to bring back the culture of being the best

because we make the best in an environment of honesty. The jobs will follow.

Every single government contract at the federal, state, county, and city level should pass a rigid

standard: does our society really need this right now? Let the bureaucrats and politicians slug

it out- but ONLY on the basis of this question. If it’s a repair for one of the many busy interstate

bridges that are crumbling apart, that would be a yes. For a bridge to nowhere or other types

of brazen pork, the answer would be a no. There are plenty of worthy infrastructure projects

in desperate need of funds. We must not tolerate projects that fall prey to incompetence,

fulfill a very narrow special interest, or are over budget, especially at the Pentagon, which has

turned boondoggles into a cottage industry. Somewhere in America, I guarantee you there is a

company that can perform the job. Fire the one who can’t.

2) Help our businesses connect with foreign customers and suppliers. America’s jobs depend

on the ability of business to perform, and lead, in a more globalized marketplace. Most

companies, from giant multinationals all the way down to small businesses are realizing that

their future desperately hinges on the ability to connect with consumers in foreign countries in

addition to the usual American customers. Americans have maxed out their credit, tightened

their belts, and will probably never spend at rates like they did over the last few decades ever

again. Rightly so. Accept it. Growth in consumer spending right now mostly lies overseas and

this is an unprecedented opportunity for Americans too. Every day thousands of new families

are entering the middle class and moving into cities for the first time from South America to

Africa to Asia, ready to buy all manner of stuff. But most American businesses are unprepared

to jump into this new and exciting fray. We need for companies to create goods and services

that there is a demand for, and which they can do better than overseas competitors, rather

than pursuing the same old methods- such as trying to revive the types of manufacturing

that other nations do better and more cheaply than us. We need to make electric cars, not

gasoline cars. There are those who say the government can’t influence this process. I disagree

vehemently.

We must revamp the U.S. education system for the 21st century, and this is something only

the government can do, in partnership with private educational institutions and industries. In

a nutshell, that means that our students must take mandatory trips abroad, and learn foreign

languages and culture beginning at a younger age (elementary school, my dear Watson)

continuing year after year, on through college. Additionally, we need to double down on math,

science and technology training, where American students are woefully lacking in relation

to their counterparts of all ages. School standards need to be reconfigured toward the new

realities of a shrinking, high-tech, multi-polar world. Teachers will have to be trained and

outfitted to provide what’s needed, especially in computing power.

The government must do a better job of encouraging free trade by removing all tariffs and

subsidies at home, and demanding that other nations we trade with do the same. There is no

reason to subsidize the energy and agriculture sectors and artificially affect the markets, giving

our trading partners an excuse to do the same. In the short run this may lead to pain, but it

will be better for the private sector in the long run. Part and parcel of this is fiercely protecting

the intellectual property of Americans as well as foreigners. In fact, I would take some of the

money funneled to defense and budget it specifically to protect intellectual property- it is in

fact a matter of national security.

Government officials of every level must reconsider their own roles. They must think globally

from now on, asking how their agency can thrive in an environment of interchange with other

nations for mutual benefit. That could be looking into products or suppliers in other nations,

studying what counterparts in other locations are doing on environmental issues, or simply

collecting new ideas through social networking.

3) Open up the borders This may seem counter-intuitive. Won’t immigrants take away jobs

from corn-fed, homegrown Americans? Generally, they will not. Immigrants tend to find

jobs that most Americans won’t do (picking grapes for 12 hours in 105 degree weather) or

can’t do (writing code in Silicon Valley). They are often the top students or strivers from their

homeland. Brands like Microsoft, Google, GM, GE, and even the NBA are in desperate need

of replenishing talent every year, and often the only places to find it are abroad. University

departments and laboratories across the nation would collapse without immigration. These

immigrants in turn help innovate, pay their taxes, and spend their incomes at the mall. Some

of them become national heroes, such as Dirk Nowitzki. Of course a minority of immigrants

do engage in criminal activity- and those individuals should rightly be subject to prison or

deportation.

Let more immigrants in. Offer a path to amnesty for the undocumented, law-abiding people

who are already here. Help them help America stay ahead rather than helping another country.

Our diversity and openness are more than a strength- we are desperately going to need them

to survive- especially as the baby boomers are beginning to retire en masse, and the ratio of

taxpayers to retirees will go up drastically in the near future. We can have strong national

defense hand in hand with more open immigration policies.

4) Speaking of national defense It’s time to read the tea leaves. The days of traditional warfare

are over. What does that mean? Instead of buying big tanks, cargo planes, and aircraft carriers

we need to pivot toward the new world we live in. The wars of the future will be fought, won,

and lost on asymmetrical battlefields. Yes, “cyber warfare” and counterterrorism are the new

front lines. Rather than building large standing armies of muscular jarheads and filling the

seas with big fleets of warships, we need legions of geeks and linguists sitting in computer labs

who know how to expand and protect our critical infrastructure and dismantle that of others.

We need more detectives and spies versed in the ways of high technology, who can infiltrate

terror cells and nuclear plants, or guide unmanned aircraft. The operation to track down and

kill Osama bin Laden was more “Law and Order” than “Saving Private Ryan”: good old law

enforcement, with years of investigative work backed by in essence, a glorified SWAT team

going in and out in 45 minutes. The war of the future is not invading countries full-on from

the beach-head, that failed neocon solution to every threat, but instead having the ability to

protect our interests everywhere using all tools at our disposal, including diplomacy and force

with pinpoint precision. That means more special forces, more technology, and less large

standing armies.

Russia and China invest in asymmetrical warfare, and so do the terrorists, anonymous hackers,

and private businesses. In your lifetime and mine, no nation will likely have the ability to fight

the United States head on in a traditional theater of war. But that won’t help if a terrorist finds

a way to sneak a dirty bomb into town or if Chinese hackers manage to shut down our national

power grid, which we almost managed to do without any help in 2003. The asymmetrical

warfare employment prospects in both the private and public sector will provide a triple bonus:

a proliferation of high-paying jobs, the types of technical training and expertise America needs,

and measurable national security achieved. It’s time for America to bring our troops home,

get them trained to be ahead of this game, and stay ahead. This is a good segue into the final

principle.

5) Quality, not quantity Often overlooked in the job creation discussion is that not all

jobs are the same. We are terminally fixated on the numbers: 9.1% unemployment! 8.9%

unemployment! The number of people receiving unemployment checks month on month went

up! We forget that it’s not only jobs we need, but good jobs. If unemployment was at 3%

because the rate of fast food consumption in America suddenly doubled, and most frustrated

jobseekers succumbed to become minimum-wage burger flippers, I would argue this isn’t ideal.

We need jobs in the areas where there will be growth in the future and where America has

a fighting chance to carve out a competitive advantage. Green technology, biotechnology,

nanotechnology, social media, and other high-tech fields are going to result in tons of new

consumer demand (and jobs) around the world, and America is losing the race in each case.

For example, China’s government is investing $200 billion in high-speed rail while American

conservatives mock the concept and the Obama administration struggled to allocate a paltry $8

billion in funding. Foreign companies are likely to be the new champions of this field, and for

American companies to even play the game they will have to resettle in Asia. It is a sad state of

affairs. This is an example of the sort of industry that the government can safely spend toward

boosting up - because it is unambiguously beneficial to society on so many levels.

These five principles may be difficult to implement in the short run and will take immense

courage on the part of our leaders, courage that few have been willing to show. But they

are no-brainers when it comes to sustained job creation over the long term. There are some

changes that all leaders should be willing to embrace above all of the noise. Luckily for

America, one of our strengths as a nation has been the uncanny ability to course-correct when

the going gets tough. There is hope that we can do it again. America’s jobs problem is spiritual

in nature: we have become slow and scared in embracing the winds of change, whereas in the

past it was America who rode these winds the furthest, fastest.