Americans for Democratic Action

How to create good jobs: Hire artists
Posted by David Yamada on Jul 02 2009
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Finance writer Felix Salmon, writing in the July-August issue of The Atlantic, proposes that we create good jobs and reinvigorate the economy by beefing up funding for the arts. It'll put creative people to work, stimulate spending, and enhance our culture:

If the Obama administration is serious about stimulating the economy and creating as many new jobs as possible, one choice is clear: it should announce a massive increase in federal arts funding. Artists are among the very poorest citizens. When they get cash, they spend it both quickly and carefully. That’s not what most recipients of federal largesse do, but it happens to be exactly what economists look for in any stimulus package. Arts spending is fantastic at creating employment: for every $30,000 or so spent on the arts, one more person gets a job, compared with about $1 million if you’re building a road or hospital.

It's a refreshing, enriching alternative to the bailout craze that has gripped us since September. For Salmon's short article, "Pay the Artists": http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/ideas-artists. It's part of a package of short features collectively titled "15 Ways to Fix the World," well worth a look: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/ideas-index.

Also posted on Minding the Workplace: http://newworkplace.wordpress.com.

David Yamada
ADA National Board Member and Contributing Blogger
Professor of Law and Director, New Workplace Institute
Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA

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Good jobs that produce huge returns.

By Unknown on Jul 11 2009 at 7:11 PM

There is a new crop of unemployed lawyers, accountants and other educated above McDonald's level.

Hire them to prosecute the top 3 tiers of the criminal bushcheneyrove gang.

There are enough unemployed to hire them just to review the actions in the last administration. Line by line. That should reduce costs enormously.

Bring all of the troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Germany, England, all south American countries. Then just pay them their pay and benefits. If they want to work, put to them to finding and cleaning up the polluted lands and waters in the
the united states. They want to learn more teach them chemistry so we can find out what is and is not in the food and drugs sold in the us. If they want to lay around a barracks smoking weed and drinking Jack Daniels that is cheaper than allowing Halliburton to feed them for $300 per person per day.

Unemployed teachers can teach at prisons just as well as in public schools. Free the marijuana jailees. Train them to do auditing and audit the returns of every single person who has a license, permit or authorization to do business. Simply the number of people who do not file income tax because they are blackmarket should produce returns of about $1000 for each dollar spent. Auditing trustee accounts controlled by lawyers, banks and insurance companies would probably pay off abut $300 received for every $1 spent. Prosecute wall street, the criminal bankers and the insurance frauds.

Seize the assets of Mrs Madoff and Mrs Ken Lay and give them a shopping basket and a day's orientation of how to live on the street and seize every damn dime they have.

I don't care if Boeing owners and the workers in the merchants of death companies starve, they have been on government welfare selling the taxpayers shit for over 200 years.

Would not hurt to hire people to do heath studies of people around Three Mile Island, airports and all military bases which are all contaminated.

Yeah, I could create jobs and pay for it by simply not buying one more instrument of war.

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How to create good jobs: Hire artists

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