Bob Herbert, columnist for the NYTimes had a recent article titled
A Scary Reality about the dire state of the American economy:
Some 247,000 jobs were lost in July, a number that under ordinary circumstances would send a shudder through the country. It was the smallest monthly loss of jobs since last summer. And for that reason, it was seen as a hopeful sign. The official monthly unemployment rate ticked down from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent.
But behind the official numbers is a scary story that illustrates the single biggest challenge facing the United States today. The American economy does not seem able to provide enough jobs — and nowhere near enough good jobs — to maintain the standard of living that most Americans have come to expect.
The country has lost a crippling 6.7 million jobs since the Great Recession began in December 2007. No one is predicting a recovery in the foreseeable future powerful enough to replace the millions of jobs that have vanished in this historic downturn.
Analysts at the Economic Policy Institute noted that the economy has fewer jobs now than it had in 2000, “even though the labor force has grown by around 12 million workers since then.”
These statistics are quite sobering. In order to create new jobs, good jobs, and stay competitive in the global economy, we need to foster the development of new industries, technologies, etc. Whether its biofuels, nanotech, alternative energy, biotech. All these areas are based on science and engineering to create something innovative.
Now, I'm quite proud to be from Arizona. I went to a public university there, got a good education. The place has a lot going for it, diverse landscape, nice weather. But its state government is shortsighted. I agree that all states are fiscally pinched due the economic hardship of the recession. But reading this story about the state legislature
cutting funding for Science Foundation Arizona is just plain short sighted. Since being founded in 2006, its done a lot of good things:
March 2006: Hires William Harris as president and chief executive officer.
• May-November 2006: Appoints board members and forms investment strategy.
• January 2007: Awards $4 million in fellowships to graduate students in science, engineering and biomedical research at Arizona's three public universities.
• April 2007: Awards $3.75 million for 23 Arizona-based research projects.
• May 2007: Commits $3.2 million for K-12 education programs for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• June 2007: Legislature commits $100 million over four years provided the foundation raises an equal amount from the private sector.
• August 2007: Awards nearly $10 million to eight research projects that forge ties between Arizona scientists and businesses.
• October 2007: Philanthropist Jerry Bisgrove donates $25 million to the foundation.
July 2008: Awards $8.8 million to Arizona graduate students in subjects such as information technology, biomedical research and sustainable systems.
But the state budget is facing a $1B deficet. Cutting its funding would be short sighted. Now if you read some of the comments about the story, many argue the state shouldn't be funding start-up companies, etc. I disagree, but most of the AZ legislature is about cutting taxes and not supporting education or anything else that would improve the quality of jobs in the state. I agree, these industries aren't going to take off overnight, but in the long run they have an enormous potential in terms of bringing jobs and investment into the state. Good weather can take your economy only so far, just look at
Florida .
