a quick thought on the economy

'spend!' says the liberal.

'cut taxes!' says the conservative.

'what happened to my job?' says more than 10% of Michigan.

there has been a lot of chatter on what is the right or wrong way to fix the economy. like its a sputtering engine. while an engine is complex, the economy is like a million of them that have to work together. they dont have to be in perfect unison, but if 10% of the cars on the road stop, the rest of us are going to have trouble getting to our destinations and some more will run out of gas on the way. so the real question is how to fix a million sputtering engines so that the roads arent littered with lemons.

as i have debated various virtues of spending and taxing and tax cuts and social welfare programs and mortgage relief and bank failures and auto bailouts and wallaby overpopulation i have come to a conclusion, and as a blogger with no credentials, experience, or pertinent education on the topic, i think i need to tell the world, well, maybe just the US for now, what to do.

first, keep up the individual level social benefits. its important that we dont let more of our citizens fall into poverty where they will be a constant drain on the system. you would want it if it was you. but there has to be an end, you cant support people forever. second, dont dump bailout money into a sinking businesses. as much as i root for the big three and against the banks, let the ones that should fail, save the ones that are viable. dont throw good money after bad. third, fix health care. that shit is too expensive. i think part of it is that people cant really shop around for the right service at the right price. you go to the primary care physician that your insurance company tells you to, then to the specialists that he tells you to. that is if you even have coverage and can take care of your health properly. all that will take the burden off of business and consumers relieving stress and the cost. finally, temporarily eliminate or drastically reduce business and capital gains taxes and quit taxing money twice. think of the spending power that would be generated if the tax burden of businesses was half what it is. think of all the capital improvements they could make, all the people they could hire without needing more money. finally, the government needs to get this stimulus money stimulating. get that money moving. when businesses cant spend, the government needs to.

once all these things kick in, and the economy starts humming along again, you wind the taxes back up to replenish the deficit and combat inflation, and cut back on government spending. in the end, youve eliminated bad corporations, strengthened the remaining ones, boosted business in general, and created a health care system that works at a reasonable cost. so there you go congress and president Obama. now get on this shit ASAP, the traffic is getting thick and i only at have a 1/4 of a tank.

stimulate this

i doubt that it is new to you that the house passed Obama's stimulus package right down party lines. im fairly certain that i dont break news, i just put my perspective to it.

my first comment is that everyone on the right seems to think that this is the 'typical liberal tax and spend policy. what we ought to do is cut taxes.' because all the tax cuts in the Bush era have done so well. deregulation got us here, tax cuts and a foolish war turned a surplus into an enormous deficit.

yes, we are spending money we dont have. but whats new? this is America. after all, the whole 'mortgage crisis' was spawned by people asking for more than they can afford and banks who let them do it and a government that refused to regulate the process.

but anyway, cutting taxes wont stimulate the economy like spending will. spending puts money into the economy. tax cuts and rebates are frequently saved rather than spent, stimulating savings, which doesnt give people jobs.

the problem we have ended up with is a confidence deficit. people just arent confident in the market, their jobs if they still have them, their investments, American companies, or the stability of the economy in general. you can stimulate some confidence with spending. if the government vows to spend billions, there is some confidence that people will get jobs.

the problem i have with the plan is not the tax cuts, not the spending, but where the spending goes. $16B to transit and $30B to roads. the way i see it we need to maintain roads and bridges, but we dot really need any more. more roads, more lanes, more highways just stimulates more cars and more driving. a robust transit system is better environmentally, better for sustainable, walkable neighborhoods, and provides a way for people to get around if they cant afford a car.

dont worry, im from Detroit. i love cars. theyre great. theyve played a large role in making America great. but the world turns, time passes, and things change. horses once constituted the way to get around. when cars came around, we largely left the horse to recreation and specialized activities. the time is coming to move to a more sustainable mode of transportation. one where we ride together. one with lower emissions. one without freeways cutting through the back yard. i cant envision a world in which cars and trucks wont have a role, but our urban centers and transit corridors would be better served with a robust rail system rather than sprawling 10 lane freeways.

which brings me to another point. the US infrastructure was recently given a grade of D. our roads and bridges are crumbling, and we have neglected rail and other forms of mass transit and freight that they can pick up the slack. so in my opinion we ought to maintain what we have before we build anything new. fix or rebuild existing roads and bridges so that no more motorists fall into rivers. at the same time we need to expand other options, rail being the most familiar and proven.

more rail, maintain roads, no new lanes, green power infrastructure and green incentives for business is my prescription. but im not a doctor or an elected leader. im just some jerk with a blog. maybe if we blog jerks say it enough someone will listen. i hope.

aw! come on, guys!

so the new stimulus package outlines $10 billion in transit funding. that sounds pretty awesome until you see that theyve given $30 billion to roads. no, im not saying let roads crumble, but induced demand is well documented and only creates more commutes, more pollution, and more upkeep. when will they see the light?

but lets pick our battles here. much of that highway money is pointed toward new roads while existing roads crumble. remember that bridge in Minneapolis? lets fix what weve got before we build more stuff that we cant seem to maintain.

from Transportation for America:

It turned out that thousands of bridges across the country were deemed "structurally deficient," and in almost two years, little has changed.

With billions about to be committed for a new economic recovery package, you'd think Congress would prioritize fixing what's broken. But the powerful highway lobby is pressing hard for nearly all the money to spent on building new roads and bridges.

I just signed a petition to the new Congress, asking them to make sure that our tax dollars are going to repair and maintenance, instead of wasting our money on expanding a crumbling road and highway system. Will you sign on, too?

http://action.smartgrowthamerica.org/t/3224/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=206

We can't afford for Congress to write a blank check to the states. The economic recovery package they're working on right now needs to include transparency and accountability, so we can see where the money's going and ensure that we fix what's broken before starting to build even more.

Why should we spend billions to build new roads to crumbling bridges?

Please, sign the petition today. All you have to do is click here:

http://action.smartgrowthamerica.org/t/3224/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=206

Thanks.

economy casarole

ive been reading various sundry articles about the state of the economy. ive come up with some thoughts of my own, but i want to preface this with the fact that i took maybe two econ classes, so not an expert, and at this point the looming recession (GASP!) is more than just an american problem. this is a worldwide concern.

disclaimers aside, heres the way i see it:
what stimulates the economy? spending. who has become increasingly poor with their spending decisions and pretty much gotten us in this mess? dumb people and stupid businesses. how do we fix it? give said dumb people more money to spend like morons!!!! NO! bad government. you keep that money, because that little tax rebate that we all are about to get (about $600 per person) amounts to quite the sum. lets say half of all americans will get this, meaning they pay taxes and the various other requirements. so 300million divided by two then multiplied by $600 comes to $90,000,000,000. also known as a fucking shitload of cash that your entrusting to people who have shown they dont know what the fuck their doing with their money.

so what my alternative? first go back in time and smack some sense into our lawmakers. next, develop big government projects to spend this money that is inevitably going to be cut from some program to stimulate the economy. i can think of a few pretty easily. a one percent of that would be a great start to getting detroit that mass transit it has needed since the second world war. perhaps get the new publicly owned bridge between detroit and windsor with half a percent of that. and guess what a billion and a half dollars dumped into the detroit area economy would do. and im sure these type projects can be found all over the us. remember that bridge that collapsed in minneapolis. perhaps we could go around and check out and repair the scores of other bridges that usdot has deemed 'structurally deficient.' you could spend a few bucks on research too. finding a way to produce ethanol that doesnt take away from the food source and isnt propped up by subsides(corn). give some money to stem cell research to help those of us who suffer from chronic illness at the hands of RA, diabetes, cancer and untold others. and while were one health care, if we have that much money to throw around, why not let some people get treatment for their health with all that cash.

but, its probably too late for all that. so lets look at what likely will happen with this $600 we will be receiving. all those people who are defaulting on mortgages and going into bancruptcy are going to go out and buy fucking flat screen tv's made in aisa, which helps us tremendously. those who have some brains will likely hang on to that dough for something special that they have been wanting. heres the problem, in order for that 'economic stimulus' to be effective, that money needs to be spent right away. and those who will are already up to the eye balls in debt so the problem doesnt go away.

like i said, maybe i dont know what im talking about. i hope not. because if im right, were all a bit fucked. only saving grace for me is that i live in the nation's capital where never ending govt cash keeps the world turning. thing is, its not here that the stimulation is needed, its in places like michigan, where my own cousins have been forced to move out of their house and in with other relatives because they cant afford to pay for heat.