For all the money that has been spent so far, the Obama administration and Congress have not made the kinds of investments that would put large numbers of Americans back to work and lead to robust economic growth. What is needed are the same things that have been needed all along: a vast program of infrastructure repair and renewal; an enormous national investment in clean energy aimed at transforming the way we develop and use energy in this country; and a transformation of the public schools to guarantee every child a first-rate education in a first-rate facility.
Back when all this started I had a bet with a meatspace friend over whether unemployment would go over 7.8%. I took the over, of course, but he thought it was crazy to think it would go that high because at the time 7.8% seemed like crazy levels of unemployment. I would have thought that extended periods of near 10% unemployment would be seen as a crisis to address, and we've had several worse than expected jobs report moments which should have provided openings to do that. And yet...