Creating more wealth but fewer jobs - David Broder

[question everything]

(snip)

In a speech on March 4, (Barney) Frank took what has become a commonplace of political conversation, something that President Bush, Senator John Kerry and scores of lesser lights constantly discuss – namely, the frustrating job market – and probed it in a depth one rarely hears from a politician.

(snip)

A fundamental shift has occurred, he says. "The ability of the private sector in this country to create wealth is now outstripping its ability to create jobs. The normal rule of thumb by which a certain increase in the gross domestic product would produce a concomitant increase in jobs does not appear to apply."

(snip)

Frank buttresses his argument by pointing out that the boom in corporate profits and the rise in the stock market have been accompanied not just by joblessness, but a decline in real wages, a falloff in private health insurance and a rise in income inequality.

(snip)


Toward the end of his speech, Frank uttered a sentence one can hardly imagine coming from the mouth of a 21st century American politician. "Our problem today," he said, "is too little government."

(snip)

Frank urges that we "take some of the wealth that is being created by this wonderful thing, this increased productivity, this new technology and the ways of using it, and all this innovation, and let us use it for our own undisputed public purposes. Let us give cities and states more money so they can have more people policing, fighting fires, cleaning up the environment, repairing facilities that need to be repaired, enhancing train transportation, building highways, helping construct affordable housing in places where that is a crisis, helping pay for higher education for students."

(snip)

Broder can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail].

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040314/news_1e14broder.html

[rfkrocks]

1. Brilliant idea

The GOP does not believe in any civic life outside of the department of justice and the military-their starving the beast of any money for any worthwhile projects-so sad-good post

[Miss Authoritiva]

2. Barney, my love

Mr. Frank rarely disappoints. This will have the opposition screaming. Recycled New Deal make-workism! Undisguised socialism! Reeks of Old Europe! At least until they twist it into something that produces profits for themselves -- or until they mangle it so badly that it doesn't work at all.

If we could just get this without the profiteering or the mangling.

[indepat]

3. Is a lot of wealth really being created when factoring in the dollar's

loss in value as compared to other leading currencies: does not this Administration's policies and actions look like a lose-lose proposition for almost all Americans?

[Cocoa]

4. this is new?

Broder wasn't aware of liberal economic policies before this Frank speech?

Just last week, he and the whole "Washington Week" panel were distorting the dems' response to Greenspan's comments on Social Security. They even cut off the video clips of Kerry and Edwards before they made their points. Broder played along.

[question everything]

5. Never mind Broder. It is Frank who counts

I hope that more of us will listen to him