KRUGMAN WANTS A MODERN VERSION OF THE "CCC CAMPS" FOR THE UNEMPLOYED...
BUT THAT MAY NOT WORK THIS TIME... THE WORK FORCE IS OLDER...NOT YOUNGER...AND MANY ARE ILLEGALS...AND MANY MORE ARE FORMER "PROFESSIONALS" NOW MADE REDUNDANT BY THE COLLAPSE OF THE ASSET BUBBLES...
WHAT TO DO WITH THE EDUCATED UNEMPLOYED...? GIVE THEM A SHOVEL...AND SAY START DIGGING... !!
WHAT WE NEED IS WHAT EASTERN EUROPE AND AFRICA AND MANY OTHER "THIRD WORLD" NATIONS HAVE...
MORE STREET VENDORS...! MORE FLEA MARKETS...THE OLD EASTERN EUROPE "RYNOK" WHERE ANYONE CAN SELL STUFF ...
HEY...I'M A FREE ENTERPRISE KINDA GUY...!
MICRO-CAPITALISM...BABY...! MICRO-CAPITALISM!
HERE'S THE PROBLEM...
THE LARGE OPERATIONS IN THE US HAVE DECAMPED...THEY ARE ALL IN ASIA OR SOUTH AMERICAN...OR SOME OTHER "LOW WAGE" ECONOMY... AND THEY AIN'T COMIN BACK ANYTIME SOON...
PERHAPS A TARIFF ON "LOW WAGE" GOODS WOULD BE IN ORDER...? YA THINK...? OR WOULD THAT BE AGAINST OUR DOGMA...?
IF YOU DON'T HAVE LARGE CORPORATIONS...YOU DON'T HAVE VALUE ADDED JOBS...AND THE WAGE BASE COLLAPSES...
TO HAVE "SMALL BUSINESSES" YOU NEED LARGE BUSINESS TO PROVIDE A "WAGE BASE" THAT CAN BE SPENT IN SMALL BUSINESSES... THIS LITTLE CHESTNUT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISSED BY THE MAINSTREAM ECONOMIC ESTABLISHMENT...!
SO THE ALTERNATIVE IS...
1. A NEW WELFARE STATE.
2. GOVERNMENT "SHOVEL JOBS" ALA...THE 1930'S CCC CAMPS...
3. FLEA MARKETS AND STREET VENDOR LICENSES...FOR THE UNEMPLOYED TO "SELL STUFF"...AND EARN AT LEAST SOME MONEY...
AND WHO KNOWS...SOME OF THEM MIGHT EVEN OPEN UP CONVENTIONAL "RETAIL STORES"...EVENTUALLY...
MY HUNCH IS THAT ALL THREE WILL BE NEEDED TO AVOID "CIVIL UNREST" IN THE COMING YEARS...
THE CCC JOBS ARE ONLY PART OF THE SOLUTION...!
