Job Creation Nation

In this video The Real News Network correspondent Paul Jay interviews Robert Pollin, founding codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst, inquiring about the most efficient avenues that the Obama administration can take in creating jobs and strengthening the economy.

The video, titled Is War the Answer to Depression?, explores the efficiency of job creation in different markets in the United States compared to military spending. Pollin's studies have found that there are many other legitimate means of job creation, which operate more efficiently and effectively than the military. Pollin says "Using the input-output model from the Department of Commerce, what we basically find is as follows, that if you spend $1 million on the military, you create 12 jobs; if you spend $1 million on clean energy, you create 17 jobs; if you spend $1 million on health care, you create 20 jobs; if you spend $1 million on education, you create 29 jobs," making it clear that diversifying our investments in the job market would be wholly beneficial.

Pollin goes on to explain exactly why military spending is so much less effective than other industries. He notes that sending soldiers overseas ends up transferring taxpayer money into international economies more than our own. Pollin urges the government to bring jobs back from overseas to the homefront, stating that "obviously, military spending has a high proportion of spending abroad, and that's not going to create jobs in the US. These other areas that I mentioned—education, health care, clean energy—are much more focused on the domestic economy." If Pollins suggestions are realized, we could be looking at a much more sustainable, efficient, and morally sound economy.