The New Poor

A new story came out about a sharp rise in poverty in America.  Over the course of the year, poverty increased by a full percentage point.  One in ten Americans now live in poverty.  It makes you wonder how one of the richest countries in the world seems so poor.

Over the past few decades, jobs have been leaving America to go to over seas.  This has happened because the same goods produced in America have become cheaper to produce in other countries.  The cheaper production price causes American goods to become less competitive, resulting in factories and manufacturing industries to close down or relocate to different countries.  Due to this, a new group of poor is developing.  This group consist of former manufacturing and mill workers that lost their jobs, and have skills that are specific to a certain industry.  Unfortunately, the jobs they are trained for no longer exist in America.  There are limited industries in America that will lead the average worker into the middle class as compared to the days of the booming manufacturing era.

What is a country to do when there is a growing number of workers that are not trained to perform the needed economic job functions?  INVEST INVEST INVEST!!!! The stimulus package passed by the Obama Administration and the proposed additional stimulus package offers some training for workers.  At a time of such deep recession, there is no reason why the government shouldn't invest into its economy and workforce.  Direct aid and works projects are the best stimulus for any weak economy, and at the current moment the economy is very weak.  Additionally, there is no better time to start research and development into new renewable energy sources and slow down our dependence on foreign oil.

We have the ability to help transition the workforce of the old manufacturing plants into a new generation of domestic energy industry workers.  We can help alleviate the unemployment problem while training our workers to be competitive in the energy sector.  Additionally, we will have the ability to become a global leader in new energy sources, increasing further investment for our country.  Unfortunately politics comes before economics and need.  Most likely, the unemployed workforce will be forgotten and become a part of structural unemployment in America, unless if the government stops acting like fiscal hermit crabs and begins to take the recession seriously and takes the initiative to put people back to work.