(1) Nations cannot achieve and maintain greatness without a balanced multi-sector economy.
(2) A wealth generating high and low tech industrial base is essential to supply the funds to support a service economy, obtain full employment, achieve a positive trade balance, sustain prosperity, maintain security, and reduce debt.
(3) The most common causes of the decline and/or downfall of great nations or empires are unaffordable foreign military adventurism (beyond national security) and prolificacy at home.
(4) Governments as well as individuals must live within their means.
(5) If the domestic economy cannot produce the revenues to support the needs and demands of the nation, a country must either reduce its living standards, public services, and the size and costs of its government or develop the capability to exploit the growth opportunities in the global economy to generate the jobs and revenues needed to avoid decline, sustain itself, and prosper.
(6) Government is overhead and expense and must be kept lean and cost efficient. All non-essential or superfluous departments, programs, services, perks, benefits, and personnel must be continuously culled along with ineffective or counterproductive laws and regulations. Extendable sunset provisions should be incorporated into all government programs.
(7) Government has a duty and obligation to create and maintain the business friendly economic environment needed to enable the private sector to provide the job and revenue growth necessary to achieve and sustain national prosperity.
(8) Good and effective government is dependent upon: campaign and tax reform; all elected and public officials being held to the highest standards of competence, honesty, diligence and ethics and be removed for failure to place the national interests above personal, political, and special interests; the elimination of crony regulations, regulators and revolving job switching between public officials and employees and the special interests and regulated entities; the prohibition of insider trading by all elected or appointed officials and government employees; and the return of all unspent campaign contributions.
(9) Automatically grant Green Cards to all top foreign graduates of American Universities and all foreign immigration seekers with college and/or advanced degrees in science, math, physics, engineering, and business from other countries and individuals with special skills to keep the U.S. the leading R&D magnet and innovation center of the world.
(10) Effective economic growth strategies and policies can quickly reverse negative conditions, statistics, research findings, and conventional thinking.
(11) Decent jobs, relevant skill training, and high and low tech re-industrialization are the most feasible means to eliminate poverty, increase revenues, and reduce/eliminate the national debt.
(12) It is not true that automation and innovation will cause permanent unemployment shortages and declining wages. While automation may reduce minimum wage assembly line jobs, it increases productivity and competitiveness and creates compensating higher paying jobs in the innovation, design, production, operation, maintenance, and installation of sophisticated machine tools, and robots, and their related services (marketing, distribution, clerical, accounting, education, training, etc.) along with the development of educational partnerships and apprenticeship arrangements between industry and school and community college systems to produce an educated, sophisticated, high tech middle class workforce that will be more prosperous, productive and globally competitive in both high and low tech manufacturing and services.
(13) Sustained severe unemployment, under employment, and denied opportunity can lead to social and political unrest, revenue reduction, and result in increased criminal activity as a means of individual or family survival.
(14) The fastest means to middle class values is a middle class income.
(15) Minimize the taxes on the producers of jobs and opportunity and fairly and progressively
tax their beneficiaries eliminating all deductions.
(16) Foster and sustain a national and personal spirit and culture of excellence, pride, and pre-eminence. Teach civics.
[Detailed papers on the above issues are available upon request.]
Harry L. Langer 20 E 68th St. NY, NY 10065. E: harrylanger@hllanger.com