The economic storm clouds have been billowing and blowing around America for the past several years. Record numbers of Americans are living in poverty. Middle class Americans have lost at least $14 trillion in home equity value over the past seven years. Unemployment is rampant among those under the age of twenty five. It is tragic in the same age group within the minority community. Under employment is everywhere you look. At the same time, farmers are complaining that the flow of illegal immigrants has slowed to a trickle while Americans are ignoring those now vacated jobs. In addition, many skilled trade jobs are screaming for employees and they just aren't there. On a personal level, I have been looking for someone to install some indoor lighting in my house and it has been like pulling teeth trying to get anyone to come out and do it.
I have been writing for several months now that this is not your father's recession. To use the vernacular, this time it's different. While those responsible for monetary policy have lowered interest rates to almost negative numbers punishing the investment class, and those responsible for fiscal policy have looked at wasted "stimulus" spending while the national debt is at crisis levels as Europe teeters on collapse, the stuff that needs to be done is being ignored either by ignorance or design...and I suspect a good dose of both.
Once again I am raising the hue and cry that the problems with the American economy, and indeed America herself, are systemic. You can tinker with spending and printing money and interest rates all you want, it won't make it better. Unless the structural issues are addressed, we will continue to flounder in ways unknown in the country up until now.
Therein lies the appeal of Herman Cain. He has confounded the pundits with his 9-9-9 plan which even the most cursory inspection demonstrates it would be politically infeasible to implement. On the other hand, the fact that he has proposed a structural solution to a known problem, a disastrous tax code, is enough to make America sit up and take notice. No, America may not like THIS plan, but it at least it satisfies our sense that the problems lie elsewhere than spending money to hire more teachers or police...the "temporary" solution.
Structural change is needed in tax policy, energy policy, trade policy, environmental policy, and foreign policy to make this country work. We need to address social attitudes as well. Getting your hands dirty needs to be elevated to a respected way to make a living. The be all and end all of success is not a college education in liberal arts. As I told my son, a college education entitles you to nothing. It is just another tool in your box to help you make a living. In my practice, some of my wealthiest clients barely finished high school.
The job of American government is to create an environment for individual success. What needs to be done is no secret, and if done correctly, there will be screaming from both sides of the political spectrum. Yes, General Electric and IBM should be paying taxes, but so should the 47% of working Americans who don't. Yes, universal health care is a worthy goal, but suffocating American business and creating an environment where Walmart has ceased providing health care to those who need it most is inexcusable. And energy independence, the cornerstone for future American prosperity, will require silencing the environmental extremists among us while letting those who are doing the fracking know that they better not frack the water tables.
I believe that America is up to the challenge. So let's stop crying in our beer, and go do it.
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