Economic Prospects: Fighting Seriously for Jobs and Social Security

Robert Pollin evaluates the range of proposals that have been proffered for solving our employment crisis, some good, some less good, and some awful. He argues that the single worst idea in the mix is that we are facing a fiscal train wreck and need to cut government spending. Pollin identifies major avenues still open for stimulating job creation — which could create lots of jobs relatively quickly and do so cheaply — that most policymakers and politicians have thus far ignored. These include specific proposals for getting bank loans into the hands of small businesses and mobilizing excess bank reserves.