Working on the workforce

The United States could improve its fiscal position if it could increase its productivity and expand its economy. How to do so involves social and education policies as well as fiscal and tax issues. One significant move would be to increase the percentage of citizens who are productive workers and taxpayers. We would also be well served by retaining and growing business activity on our own shores and by finding new ways to create economic opportunities. All of this relates to developing a national economic strategy as advocated by Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School.

I am amazed that the government has not convened a serious discussion of these issues since 1983. This omission is a reflection of the dominant political philosophy of the past 30 years, which has been to take whatever the world market serves up rather than try to influence the outcomes. Benefiting ourselves does not necessarily mean disadvantaging others. But you can count on others to seek to disadvantage us, and it is pretty stupid not even to think about what we might do to produce a better outcome for ourselves and our friends.