Call me crazy
Call me Ishmael. Bennigan's and Steak and Ale just filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy; that's the kind where all assets are eliminated to pay-down debt. I'll miss the Monte-Cristo at Bennigan's (although my arteries will no doubt thank me), but the restaurant market has been over-crowded. That's over 300 stores closed and certainly another 4000 or so unemployed workers jettisoned into an already crowded job hunting market.
I am seeing a common thread in this ongoing recession, the worst hit with the largest numbers of layoffs are those working in the service industry. Not coincidentally, that has been the fastest growing sector of job growth in the US for a couple decades now. So those workers will be unlikely to find other service industry jobs. But what else is there?
All along we've been warned, this economy is unsustainable. But an individual is powerless to change the direction of the economy. It takes economic policy that empowers people to create companies that create the type of long-term sustainable jobs need. Right now we need affordable training programs and new jobs that will be around for decades.
We can actually kill two birds with one stone with a patently obvious solution. Our nations infrastructure and transit system is broken. Fixing the two would employ a large share of the currently unemployed. Other projects like a "race to space" green initiative and an actual "race to space" to colonize the Moon and/or Mars, would also create jobs. You can start by doubling the R&D budget and by letting NASA earn residuals on the products and technologies they invent.
At the same time we should be encouraging non-service industry small business growth through entrepreneurism. Start a program that gives everyone enrolled the chance to have one business license, to employee up to 25 workers who will pay no payroll tax on the first 25K of their yearly earnings, and to pay no other taxes other than personal income tax for revenues up to $1 million a year. Starting a business online these days is easy, so I see a lot of takers for this program.
While we're at it, and this may seem minor, but the patent, trademark, and copyright system is broken. It's stifling invention and preventing the sort of rapid technology increases that will help us continue to close the productivity gap.
This has become sort of a long rant. But I wanted to get it out there so it can be refined.
I am seeing a common thread in this ongoing recession, the worst hit with the largest numbers of layoffs are those working in the service industry. Not coincidentally, that has been the fastest growing sector of job growth in the US for a couple decades now. So those workers will be unlikely to find other service industry jobs. But what else is there?
All along we've been warned, this economy is unsustainable. But an individual is powerless to change the direction of the economy. It takes economic policy that empowers people to create companies that create the type of long-term sustainable jobs need. Right now we need affordable training programs and new jobs that will be around for decades.
We can actually kill two birds with one stone with a patently obvious solution. Our nations infrastructure and transit system is broken. Fixing the two would employ a large share of the currently unemployed. Other projects like a "race to space" green initiative and an actual "race to space" to colonize the Moon and/or Mars, would also create jobs. You can start by doubling the R&D budget and by letting NASA earn residuals on the products and technologies they invent.
At the same time we should be encouraging non-service industry small business growth through entrepreneurism. Start a program that gives everyone enrolled the chance to have one business license, to employee up to 25 workers who will pay no payroll tax on the first 25K of their yearly earnings, and to pay no other taxes other than personal income tax for revenues up to $1 million a year. Starting a business online these days is easy, so I see a lot of takers for this program.
While we're at it, and this may seem minor, but the patent, trademark, and copyright system is broken. It's stifling invention and preventing the sort of rapid technology increases that will help us continue to close the productivity gap.
This has become sort of a long rant. But I wanted to get it out there so it can be refined.
