¶ … Jobs to Rebuild America's Economy"
This article in the Financial Times reflects on the current economic situation and the possible responses to it. The article starts with a cursory review of the various bail-outs by the United States Treasury, as well as an analysis of Obama's stimulus package, determining that not only are these packages largely unfair to the American people, they will also be ineffective in changing our falling status in the global economy.
The main focus of the article, however, is on the current state of employment and the average American worker. The author's claim that we are currently experiencing the greatest wage differential since 1928, and that much of the past several decades has been devoted quite explicitly to making the rich richer. They also suggest that the only real fix for the current economic crisis is the creation of jobs and the institution of policies that create and ensure fairness in tax law and wages. The gist of their argument seems to be that large financial institutions and hugely wealthy -- and therefore economically powerful -- individuals have largely created the problems we find ourselves faced with, and that sending money to them will not fix the problem. Rather, the populous at large in this country needs to be financially and politically re-endowed if we are to have any hoe of pulling out of this economic mess.
The authors also point out the trade practices that American citizens are now paying for though they were not responsible for the decisions and made no profit from them. It is the unfairness of it all that the authors find so depressing, and the fact that the currently proposed fixes to the economy will not live up to their stated purposes. The authors advocate reevaluation and stricter adherence to fair trade policies and to a more fair and progressive income tax.
