The way we measure our national economy - by GDP, or the total amount of spending on goods and services - is a lousy way to measure success. When GDP rises, that's not necessarily a good sign. In the run-up to the meltdown, the rising GDP should not have been taken as a reason to party-on; GDP didn't show that consumers were spending big bucks they didn't have. And now, when those same pundits see an uptick in GDP numbers, it leads to them to such oxymorons as "jobless recovery."
We know the numbers: unemployment passed the double digit mark of 10%. That number, broken down by race, shows African Americans with 15% unemployment, Latinos at 12%, Asians, although suffering less unemployment, are seeing the fastest growing rate of unemployment, and for some Native American tribes, close to half have no jobs. For whites, the double digit mark has not quite been reached at 9%. And so while all racial groups are feeling the pain, communities of color are in economically critical condition.
- First, like in the emergency room, those with the most life threatening situations need to be cared for first. Every life can be saved if you start with the ones with the most pressing problem. There are new emerging sectors whose growth will be encouraged by government investment: besides green technology, broadband and transit are two sectors that will need new workers. Due to structures and prejudices that continue to make people of color last hired and first fired, the first hired for new jobs need to be those from communities with disproportionately high unemployment rates. How? Tax incentives for employers who hire people from disproportionately affected groups; job training and creation programs that are targeted to people/areas disproportionately affected by job loss; community rebuilding programs with job residency requirements.
We can get the economy to work and work for all of us, by putting the American people to work. We're shovel ready!