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Economic Ideas
by Houston Wade
I made a list. I am a physics and astronomy student so some of the ideas about energy production and
distribution might seem a little "out there" but they are all entirely possible and very feasible.
So, this is what I would do to boost the US economy:
- Raise taxes, not a lot, but enough. Perhaps back to levels during the Clinton administration so
that the government can properly invest in infrastructure.
- We need to stop getting into pointless, endless wars that cost us capital and world perception and
make investment in our economy more of a risk.
- Split Homeland Security back into constituent bureaucracies and eliminate redundant agencies...
especially the heed the return of the head of FEMA as a cabinet-level official (natural disasters
are far more damaging to the economy than any terrorist threat).
- Nationalize the power industry. Electricity makes our economy run, it doesn't run well when people
try to make a profit off of selling the essential tools of the economy at the expense of base level
investment capital. More money in the average customer's pocket means more money left over to
purchase production items (not trickle down--it's trickle up!) and maybe aluminum companies
might even be able to afford to actually smelt some bauxite.
- Construct a massive, high speed passenger train system between metropolises that criss-cross
the country.
- Double airports, not runways, but actual airports and split air traffic in most major cities.
- Go after Wal-Mart, big-oil, telecommunications companies and media conglomerates (print, radio,
TV) for anti-trust violations--as well as force telecommunications companies to provide broadband
to end of the line users in rural and suburban areas like we did with phone lines and electricity 50-
60 years ago.
- Implement a huge hike in minimum MPG ratings in ALL vehicles, especially trucks and SUVs. If
Nikola Tesla could make a car that went 90 MPH and run off the Earth's magnetic field in 1931 we
can certainly move beyond our 120 year old fascination with the 20-30% efficient internal
combustion engine.
- Stop the war on drugs and tax those drugs deemed "less" harmful and focus instead on treatment
and prevention. More people die and more money is spent on stopping the drug trade and
controlling turf and black markets than would occur with treatment and legalization. I think we
should still have laws against PCP, meth and similar narcotics that have violent side effects.
Something similar to how the Swiss legalized and heroin and nearly eradicated it through
treatment.
- Nationalize the health care system and eliminate private insurance. It is asinine that we are the
only industrialized nation in the world without universal health care. Costs related to health care
compose of 1/7 of our ENTIRE economy and, still, we have a poorer quality of health care than
every major nation and are ranked behind Cuba and Costa Rica in availability of health care.
Again, take the profit out of something that is so vital to the economy, healthy workers make
productive workers. I have my own sob story as a result of ineffective, expensive private health
insurance.
- Implement a system of trade law minimums where all imports to the US must meet, at a bare
minimum, in the process of their production: our environmental laws, our child labor laws, our
worker safety laws and our minimum wage laws. This would force companies to conduct fair trade
and keep the US industrial sector competitive while promoting the virtues of the rights our
constitution provides to those around the world. "We hold these rights to be self evident that ALL
men are created equal..." not just Americans but anyone with a pulse. We're the biggest market
in the world; who would want to mess with that? If violators are caught attempting to smuggle
illegal products from factories that violate the above standards and create a black-market for said
products it should result in immediate seizure and free distribution to the public via a lottery (or
similar) and huge punitive damages for any licensed US business caught in anyway with the
production, distribution or sale of such items.
- If necessary, deficit spend so we can massively upgrade the nation's public school systems and
double teacher pay so that teaching positions can be competitive and enticing to college
graduates. I think teachers' unions would concede some powers in regards to firing poor quality
teachers if it meant huge gains in pay to their members. The Scandinavian nations have been
continually ranked as the most competitive nations in the world and the main factor was "over"-
investing in public education.
- Fund a space program that would have economically feasible goals and not just "let's land on the
Moon... again." Something comprehensive like capturing an asteroid into our orbit and using to
mine precious metals. Or going to the Moon to create nuclear reactors that utilize the abundance
of Helium-3 and then use a microwave laser (MASER) to beam the energy back to the Earth's
surface. Something like the latter would reduce energy costs and pollution while providing access
to electricity for many nations who may lack the electrical utility infrastructure of their wealthier
counterparts. For the price of the International space station we could have a permanent colony
on the Moon by now achieving some very real economic gains.
- On the energy note: I think it would be beneficial, not just to the US, but to the entire world to
create a global energy grid so that when the US is not consuming energy at night Asia can utilize
our power plants during their peak hours and vice versa. It would be very efficient and would
save the world gobs of natural resources and costs in energy production. Again we can utilize
MASER technology to beam energy to geosynchronous satellites and back down on various parts
of the Earth and reincorporate it back into the electrical grid so that nations with undesirable
geography could benefit from first word technology.
Anything else you would suggest? Change? Add?...
If so, write me, Houston Wade at
houstonwade@houtonwade.com
Thank You.