Black America Needs an Economic Stimulus Program - Now, Not Later!
- By James Taylor
- Published 07/14/2009
- Economics
- Unrated
A news development which has not gotten nearly enough media or government attention over the past two months has been the soaring unemployment rate among African-Americans. According to the Labor Department, Black joblessness stood at 15 percent in April and then “improved” insignificantly in May by falling to just 14.9 percent.
These are jobless figures which appear to be approaching the Depression-era unemployment rates of the 1930s when roughly 25 percent of the adult population was looking for work and could not find it. The situation is made even worse by the manner in which the government calculates unemployment rates: You are only counted as unemployed if you are actually looking for work.
Those Blacks who have become frustrated and given-up the job search are not included in the unemployment figures. Neither are people who are working part-time but actually desire to work full time.
In order to combat the crime producing, psychologically-demeaning and dysfunctional-family-creating unemployment epidemic, Black America needs to be specifically targeted with an economic stimulus program which creates both jobs and businesses, especially in our inner-city communities.
When the automobile industry was in trouble, the government responded with billions of dollars specifically designed to revitalize that industry and make it more competitive. When the banking industry was shaken to its knees by the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the credit crunch, the government responded with billions of dollars specifically designed to rescue the nation’s banks.
However, with Black America in economic crisis, we are being told (even by the Obama administration) that specific aid to Blacks is wrong. Instead, we are told the government is working to revitalize the overall economy and as a result Black America will benefit. This sounds suspiciously close to President Ronald Reagan’s “trickle-down” economics of the 1980s. In practice, “trickle-down” promoted the absurd notion that you help the poor and the working classes by given the wealthy more money.
The notion advanced the argument that the wealthy would eventually invest their extra dollars and produce jobs and rising incomes for the lower classes.
No! If you actually desire to help Black America out of its economic crisis, invest billons of dollars directly in Black America—not in the form of give-away projects but in the form of targeted investments which create small businesses and jobs. If you are going to give billions to the automobile industry, have the companies build some of their new plants in inner-city areas.
I am not an economic determinist. I do not believe that money solves all problems. But it lays the best possible foundation for change. Every problem plaguing Black America today would either be eliminated or become less of a problem if we were a wealthier people. Wealth can only come from employment and business ownership.
Black America, starting with inner-city areas, needs an economic stimulus program: At least $50 billion a year for the next 10 years. President Obama and the U.S. Congress, I hope you are listening.
These are jobless figures which appear to be approaching the Depression-era unemployment rates of the 1930s when roughly 25 percent of the adult population was looking for work and could not find it. The situation is made even worse by the manner in which the government calculates unemployment rates: You are only counted as unemployed if you are actually looking for work.
Those Blacks who have become frustrated and given-up the job search are not included in the unemployment figures. Neither are people who are working part-time but actually desire to work full time.
In order to combat the crime producing, psychologically-demeaning and dysfunctional-family-creating unemployment epidemic, Black America needs to be specifically targeted with an economic stimulus program which creates both jobs and businesses, especially in our inner-city communities.
When the automobile industry was in trouble, the government responded with billions of dollars specifically designed to revitalize that industry and make it more competitive. When the banking industry was shaken to its knees by the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the credit crunch, the government responded with billions of dollars specifically designed to rescue the nation’s banks.
However, with Black America in economic crisis, we are being told (even by the Obama administration) that specific aid to Blacks is wrong. Instead, we are told the government is working to revitalize the overall economy and as a result Black America will benefit. This sounds suspiciously close to President Ronald Reagan’s “trickle-down” economics of the 1980s. In practice, “trickle-down” promoted the absurd notion that you help the poor and the working classes by given the wealthy more money.
The notion advanced the argument that the wealthy would eventually invest their extra dollars and produce jobs and rising incomes for the lower classes.
No! If you actually desire to help Black America out of its economic crisis, invest billons of dollars directly in Black America—not in the form of give-away projects but in the form of targeted investments which create small businesses and jobs. If you are going to give billions to the automobile industry, have the companies build some of their new plants in inner-city areas.
I am not an economic determinist. I do not believe that money solves all problems. But it lays the best possible foundation for change. Every problem plaguing Black America today would either be eliminated or become less of a problem if we were a wealthier people. Wealth can only come from employment and business ownership.
Black America, starting with inner-city areas, needs an economic stimulus program: At least $50 billion a year for the next 10 years. President Obama and the U.S. Congress, I hope you are listening.