We can guarantee a job to anyone willing and able to work, at minimum wage, to help rebuild damaged infrastructure of towns and cities
11 March 2022 - 14:24
byHoward Pearce
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Most economic commentators say that though our infrastructure is being destroyed, we must wait for “structural reform”, external investors, growth and then job creation before we can reap greater tax revenue for the fiscus to fund the necessary work and create jobs.
There are 12-million people in SA without jobs due to the policy framework of government, both pre- and during Covid-19. This is an untenable waste of human resources and a blight on society.
Look around you and at photographs in newspapers and online. The jobs are depicted in stark reality — no job “creation” required. Roads, municipal buildings, railway stations, water infrastructure, sewerage, homes for the elderly, early childhood care centres, clinics, hospitals, schools, toilets, police stations, low-income houses, damaged ecosystems ... all require refurbishing, maintenance, construction or substantial cleanup.
So, the job jar is actually overflowing. The private sector, and their investor backers, will not attend to these jobs. We, the people, through our government, can guarantee a job to anyone willing and able to work, at minimum wage, to assist in rebuilding the damaged infrastructure of every town and city. We will need human capital, and that will require private sector involvement.
We can start tomorrow. We have the labour and material resources. It will be a long road, and those who are not hired early on will need a basic income grant to tide them over. The need for this will decrease with time as the more productive job guarantee takes over.
Economists and government will have to finally recognise that the intrinsic logic of a fiat monetary system is that taxes do not finance government spending, even if the government has accounting structures that make it look like they do.
Government spends first and then taxes.
Howard Pearce Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: The job jar is actually overflowing
We can guarantee a job to anyone willing and able to work, at minimum wage, to help rebuild damaged infrastructure of towns and cities
Most economic commentators say that though our infrastructure is being destroyed, we must wait for “structural reform”, external investors, growth and then job creation before we can reap greater tax revenue for the fiscus to fund the necessary work and create jobs.
There are 12-million people in SA without jobs due to the policy framework of government, both pre- and during Covid-19. This is an untenable waste of human resources and a blight on society.
Look around you and at photographs in newspapers and online. The jobs are depicted in stark reality — no job “creation” required. Roads, municipal buildings, railway stations, water infrastructure, sewerage, homes for the elderly, early childhood care centres, clinics, hospitals, schools, toilets, police stations, low-income houses, damaged ecosystems ... all require refurbishing, maintenance, construction or substantial cleanup.
So, the job jar is actually overflowing. The private sector, and their investor backers, will not attend to these jobs. We, the people, through our government, can guarantee a job to anyone willing and able to work, at minimum wage, to assist in rebuilding the damaged infrastructure of every town and city. We will need human capital, and that will require private sector involvement.
We can start tomorrow. We have the labour and material resources. It will be a long road, and those who are not hired early on will need a basic income grant to tide them over. The need for this will decrease with time as the more productive job guarantee takes over.
Economists and government will have to finally recognise that the intrinsic logic of a fiat monetary system is that taxes do not finance government spending, even if the government has accounting structures that make it look like they do.
Government spends first and then taxes.
Howard Pearce
Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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