The notion which we are hammered with from every government official, politician, TV Station, and journal is that people don't spend money during tough economic times because "they are worried about uncertainty in the economy." This notion is only half true and laughable. During tough economic times, many people lose their jobs, and therefore, they don't have enough money to pay their bills, much less to spend. After all, more than 70% of the United States GDP comes from consumer spending. As such, I find it funny how even top economists and politicians forget to mention this point. Maybe they don't even know this fact!
The U.S. government is wondering what it should do to improve the economy, encourage growth, and lower unemployment.Well it seems relatively easy to see what should be done and what should be our focus in order to solve the economic problems we are facing: encouraging real job-stimulating programs instead of just bailing out the big banks and other institutions. Let's focus on building our infrastructure, power grids, roads, and highways. There are more than a million construction workers who have been out of jobs for over a year in the United States. Also, what happened to encouraging more research and scientific endeavors as well as enhancing our education system? Closing tax loopholes on huge corporate giants--that do not pay a penny in taxes and have billions of dollars go to their own coffers--would also seem like a good idea.
-Michael Helou-
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