Dr. Dobbs Recipe for Economic Recovery: Infrastructure, Education, Regulation

In the remarkably substantive comments section at Dakota Day, Thomas L. Dobbs, SDSU Professor Emeritus of Economics, reminds us of an article he wrote in October on returning to fiscal policy to fix the economy. Among the items Dr. Dobbs would place on the Presidential to-do list:

1. Implement a comprehensive national health care system. "This is necessary not only for equity reasons but also because the current, haphazard American 'non-system' is far too costly for the economy." (I keep telling you universal health coverage saves money!)
2. Skip bailouts for individual companies or industries. If they can't make it on their own, they'll just continue to be drags on the economy.
3. Drop support for ethanol: years of massive subsidies, and VeraSun et al. still can't make it. To heck with them.
4. Invest in the actual public good: build infrastructure (roads, bridges, mass transit, national rail) that can support economic activity and expansion for everyone.
5. Pay the folks building that infrastructure good wages.
6. Scrap No Child Left Behind; make education (and the economy) better by hiring more teachers and teacher aides!
   
7. Restore "financial, environmental, and food safety oversight and regulation." That will not only protect us citizens, but will also provide more jobs for skilled workers (creating and enforcing regulations takes brains!).

Wow! Now that's a thoughtful recipe for long-lasting economic recovery, not just a temporary boost in a few stock portfolios. Dr. Dobbs, send your résumé to Change.gov!