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In my last post I talked about the trouble that Democrats are having with the electorate. I may have said that at a bad time, though their messaging and platform need some work. When Americans talk about the direction that the country is going on, they will overwhelmingly tell you that the economy is their biggest concern. At this point, the Democrats have been content to just tinker at the edges, trying to preserve existing jobs. But what the American economic system needs is a makeover.
When Hillary Clinton was trying to win the presidential nomination in 2008, she proposed a "green deal", a spin on FDR's New Deal policies. I thought this was one of the better ideas she presented and one that is even more relevant today than when she talked about it. The core element of it is a state-encouraged boom in environmentally friendly technology that would begin in the United States and revive the manufacturing base. I think this is an extremely good idea. The goals of this Green Deal would be economic revival, carbon dioxide reduction, and better city planning. I will go through what I think this idea should consist of.
1.) Creating an incentive for environmentally friendly technology- The first step in transforming the economy would be to shift financial incentives away from fossil fuel use. This could include subsidies for renewable energy companies, a carbon tax, and higher fuel taxes. One of the most important things to do would be to redistribute capital away from coal/petroleum/automobile production and transfer it to public transportation/renewable energy utilities. Raising the gas tax would take more cars off the road and make those that are still on the road more fuel efficient. I have always argued that reducing petroleum use is a matter of national security as well. Another important step in this, one that is often overlooked, is to design a new Farm Bill that focuses exclusively on organic agriculture. Our current agriculture used 8 units of energy for every 1 unit of food. It also does not support local farmers and economies. It would be easy to simply shift subsidies away from big agribusiness.
2.) Stop manufacturing jobs going overseas- This is very important. The way our current system is designed to shift any increase in manufacturing jobs to other countries. We have to end tax breaks for countries that shift jobs overseas. We may also consider erecting trade barriers to international wind turbines, solar panels, hybrid cars, etc. This is not necessary though. Without significant change to our problem with outsourcing, there would be no benefit to the middle class from any economic boom in the United States.
3.) End the suburbs and promote public transportation- It is quite obvious that our suburban model of living is broken. Suburbs lead to urban decay, high consumption levels, excessive farmland conversion, loss of natural habitats, congestion, the list goes on. With more and more people living close to the cities and using public transportation, our oil use could be substantially reduced. It would also improve our educational systems, environment, health-care systems and general quality of life. With middle-class and upper class Americans moving to the inner cities, there would be an influx of tax revenue that could lead to urban renewal and investment in public education.
I'm not saying that this model is perfect. In fact, it is far from solving all of our problems. If the Democratic Party could transform the economy along these lines, it could actually lead to a significant improvement in the standard living in this country. It could lead to long-term, sustained job growth. It could also lead to an economy and population that is prepared to deal with a possible peak oil crisis on the horizon.
