As of the end of June, 14 million Americans were out of work. Of that number, nearly seven million people have been unemployed for more than a year. This is a topic of particular importance to me because I lost my business during this economic downturn and have not secured full-time employment. Since then, I have been studying the economic policies of current and past administrations as well as the history of the 1930s, the Great Depression and the economic crisis of 1873.
In each case, problems arose on Wall Street, credit generally was tight and many financial institutions went belly up. I should explain that my armchair economic view is a function of the Austrian economic school of thought as opposed to Keynesian. And even though what I am suggesting may not repair our economic situation completely, it’s a step toward developing a comprehensive plan.
1. Revisit the impact of North American Free Trade Agreement and other policies that work directly against U.S. economic interests, particularly in reference to the middle and lower class populations.
2. The Obama administration needs to get more aggressive and block the Bush economic policies that the new Republican guard desires to reintroduce — like tax cuts for the wealthy.
3. Develop standards for Wall Street and financial institutions that target greed instead of capitalism. There is a difference between the two, but our policy approach does not acknowledge it.
4. Require that all complex financial instruments such as derivatives be kept on an institution’s books. Mandate that basic accounting procedures be followed so that the true value of the investment is reported. We do not need any more Enrons.
5. Focus on developing economic initiatives that compete directly with new emerging economies while reducing fossil fuel consumption.
6. Move away from a service economy and invest more in education and research. One of the problems is that we do not create or invent things of value the rest of the world needs or desires.
7. Cut oil subsidies entirely. Oil companies are making billions of dollars off taxpayers. If we want to stimulate energy production, take the money and put 10 percent of it into solar and wind power that we can engineer, and build these technologies here in America.
8. Legalize and tax prostitution and marijuana along with selected other drugs. Decriminalize small amounts of others.
9. Audit the Federal Reserve and examine its continued relevance, as well as cut subsidies to industries that aren’t efficient enough to stay afloat without government money.
10. Eliminate the federal corporate income tax and all foreign aid. Limit individual taxation to money spent on goods and services. This would be a fair tax (everyone taxed at the same rate) mixed with a consumption tax.
11. Eliminate the FCC (which is a total waste of money) and the Department of Education. States should run education, not the feds.
12. Bring our troops home. They can defend our borders and there’s no telling how much money we will save.
–torrance stephens, ph.d. For more with Dr. Stephens, log on to twitter.com/rawdawgbuffalo and rawdawgb.blogspot.com.
