How to Restore Jobs in America and Reduce Unemployment

"Only a fraction of the available human labor in the world is now needed for the production of the total amount of consumption goods necessary to life. Under a completely laissez-faire economic system, this fact is bound to lead to unemployment."

Those words were written by Albert Einstein and appeared in his book Ideas And Opinions. The words were first published in an article in 1934, during the height of the Great Depression. How much do his cautionary words still apply today?

Einstein said that one of the reasons for this high unemployment was the "rapid progress in methods of production." Over the ensuing decades we have experienced even greater automation. For example, in the automotive industry, robots and machines do the work assembly line workers used to do. In addition, we have multinational corporations outsourcing work and sending employment to areas of the world that offer efficient workers at a fraction of the cost American workers are being paid. Also, we have millions of people immigrating to these shores, even during the 2007-2010 economic downturn. That can be contrasted to the early years of the Great Depression, when more people emigrated from the United States to other countries than came here. What is to become of our unemployment situation? Is high unemployment a passing phenomenon or a long-term nightmare?

There are eggheads in ivory towers who tell us the U.S. recession ended in the summer of 2009. But they are using a very narrow and utterly meaningless definition of the word "recession." They simply mean it to be two consecutive quarters of negative growth in GDP. However, for the tens of millions of Americans who are unemployed or underemployed, the recession is far from over. There is tremendous angst among those who still have jobs, a feeling that they will be downsized at any second or their job will be relocated abroad, and that the next position they hold will not be nearly as rewarding from an intellectual or financial standpoint. In this race to the bottom, workers also see their benefits (holidays, sick days, vacation time and pensions) being eroded.

Importing millions of people + exporting millions of jobs + losing jobs to technology and automation = high unemployment. This is a nettlesome equation the political class and ruling elite often choose to ignore. If we want to get serious about solving the high unemployment in this country, then let's get serious about it.

1. Create a sweeping jobs program to rebuild America. In an era of low inflation, there is little downside to creating a massive jobs program to employ Americans to do the work that needs to be done. The rebuilding and repairing of the infrastructure would be very cost effective because the work done will last for several decades and pay for itself many times over. This would include building, rebuilding and repairing hospitals, schools, roads, airports, seaports and bridges; investing heavily in high-speed rail; retooling energy grids and power lines; repairing water and sewer lines; and starting meaningful green energy programs. The money workers engaged in these vital activities are paid will help other sectors of the economy and their tax dollars will help battle the deficit.

2. Severely restrict immigration. Our immigration policy should be tailored for the American people, not for the immigrant. We should have a versatile immigration policy where we let in the people we need to help America prosper. This would mean extending more H-1B visas to those who have high-tech skills in the areas of computers, engineering and science. But it would also mean reducing immigration based on family reunification, and cutting back on the number of low-skilled immigrants in a time when Americans need work. The immigration policy should not be stagnant but should be flexible and change as quickly as conditions change.

3. Protect American jobs and industries. The book Ecclesiastes in the Bible tells us, "for everything there is a season." There is a time for this and a time for that. There was a time for free trade when it was to our advantage. But when the global situation changes and we are at a disadvantage, then we should ease back on free trade and do more to assist our companies, both the established ones and the fledgling ones. The leaders who are rigid ideologues about free trade are putting the U.S. in a deeper and deeper hole. Previous generations understood the importance of looking after one's own. Throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and even into the early 20^th century, the U.S. government helped our industries by slapping duties and tariffs on foreign goods. This enabled industries like our textile industry to survive infancy and thrive. Misconceptions about how protectionism contributed to the Great Depression turned both major U.S. political parties away from that view and toward a blind allegiance to free trade. We must be for fair trade, and fair trade must mean enhancing America's competitiveness in the world.

4. Restore labor unions. There is a direct correlation between the decline of our labor unions and the lowering of the standard of living for U.S. workers. The unions brought about such things as the eight-hour workday, the five-day workweek and all the other benefits and job security workers enjoyed for most of the second half of the 20^th century. Labor unions give workers a fighting chance when pitted against the Corporate Power, and these unions are good for America.

5. No more bad trade agreements. When countries sit down to negotiate trade deals, each country should logically be looking to make the best deal for his or her side. However, America has recently sent representatives to the table who were under the influence of corporate lobbyists, and they made horrible agreements that favored other countries while damaging our own. Trade agreements should help the American worker, not just the corporate CEO. And the people who negotiate the deals should not be allowed to then turn around and make millions of dollars working for lobbying firms doing business with the very foreign country with which they made the deal. That should always be a conflict of interest and call into question their objectivity.

6. Encourage corporations to keep work here. Government should do everything in its power to prevent corporations from off-shoring jobs and capital. Policies should be shaped to reward companies who keep business in America and pay their fair share of taxes, and policies should be structured to punish those who don't. We need to keep a strong manufacturing job base here, so that when new products come along that nearly everyone wants, like high-definition television, we will earn the value-added profits from the new technology, and not just the middle-man profits of the sales transaction.

Sources:

Ideas And Opinions, by Albert Einstein, Bonanza Books, division of Crown Publishers, 1954, page 88

Holy Bible, book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verses 1-8