Isn't time to recreate a jobs program like the CCC?

[NinetyWt]

@monstro

1. States have laid off a number of employees that would be responsible for rebuilding infrastructure. .

Don’t replace them with federal workers, replace them with a private company (with private workers).

2. The program would butt heads with the private sector.

See #1.

3. After all the towns damaged by natural disasters are fixed up, then what? Do we really need another Hoover Dam? No.

Please check out the stories I linked. There is a great unmet need out there in terms of rehabilitation and rebuilding.

4. Even during the Great Depression, the CCC did very little to fix things. It helped some individuals, but it didn’t save families or fix the economy.

I disagree. The CCC was a shot in the arm for my state’s econonomy, and did keep families from starving, while building drainage canals and dams which are still serving the public today.

[NinetyWt]

The beauty of the Infrastructure Bank is that it’s a revolving fund, like the State Revolving Funds which many states use to finance rural water and sewer projects. Once a project is complete, the money is paid back into the Bank for it to lend to the next project.

[rbroome]

@NinetyWt

The beauty of the Infrastructure Bank is that it’s a revolving fund, like the State Revolving Funds which many states use to finance rural water and sewer projects. Once a project is complete, the money is paid back into the Bank for it to lend to the next project.

I am not familiar with this idea. How is it different from a local government floating construction bonds? Is it just a question of interest rates or is there more to it?

[monstro]

@NinetyWt

Don’t replace them with federal workers, replace them with a private company (with private workers).

But then…this isn’t the CCC at all. It’s just another company receiving a government contract. I don’t see how this is any different than what we have now.

Please check out the stories I linked. There is a great unmet need out there in terms of rehabilitation and rebuilding.

Oh, I have no doubt there’s a need and I didn’t mean to imply there isn’t. It’s just that I believe the states should be doing these things. If we’re going to usurp the state’s role and use low-paid workers, then the states have no incentive to do anything. Like investing their own money into projects. My state just magically uncovered billions in surplus money. A year ago it laid off hundreds of DOT workers. There have been lots of proposals for what to do with the surplus, but rebuilding the infrastructure and hiring back those laid off employees hasn’t been one of them that I have heard.

I disagree. The CCC was a shot in the arm for my state’s econonomy, and did keep families from starving, while building drainage canals and dams which are still serving the public today.

I’m glad it helped your economy, but we have a national problem. The CCC isn’t going to fix the national unemployment problem or stagnant growth. It won’t help the millions of fifty-somethings who have been driving desks for the last twenty-five years and are now sitting in darkened foreclosed properties, crying because they can’t send their teenagers to college. And if the New CCC has enough money to pay people high enough wages to stimulate the economy, then that means the government is sitting on some secret money. The CCC worked only because the young men in the program were poor, uneducated, and never entertained making anything grander than $40 a month. You tell an 18-year-old he’s going to be pulling in $400 a month while living in the middle of nowhere, military style, doing back-breaking work, and you’re going to hear some teeth-sucking and a loud “Guess I’m joining the Army!”

The CCC worked because of the context in which it was invented. I’m not saying no jobs program would work (AmeriCorps seems fine), but it would have to be reformulated for a new population and way of life.

I feel like an old crotchety-crotch saying that, but I think it’s true.

[LouisB]

It’s my understanding that the CCC came into existence when the USA was still a largely agrarian society. Farm boys, generally speaking, knew how to wield a pick and shovel (or an axe) and had the strength needed to do so. In today’s world, those skills are not so readily available. Digging a ditch, especially for drainage, is not as dirt simple as a lot of people seem to think.

[NinetyWt]

@rbroome

I am not familiar with this idea. How is it different from a local government floating construction bonds? Is it just a question of interest rates or is there more to it?

I’m not familiar with construction bonds so I’m not able to answer that.

This article explains a little bit about how it would work.

And here is a WSJ article with information on implementation.

Here is an opinion piece about unemployment and an infrastructure bank.

[NinetyWt]

@monstro

But then…this isn’t the CCC at all.

You’re right, I shouldn’t have implied that.

It’s just that I believe the states should be doing these things. If we’re going to usurp the state’s role and use low-paid workers, then the states have no incentive to do anything. Like investing their own money into projects. My state just magically uncovered billions in surplus money. A year ago it laid off hundreds of DOT workers. There have been lots of proposals for what to do with the surplus, but rebuilding the infrastructure and hiring back those laid off employees hasn’t been one of them that I have heard.

I see what you’re saying, but some states don’t have the $ to do anything. One of the ideas of the infrastructure bank is to get states together to do regional projects - which they could invest their own money in.

The CCC isn’t going to fix the national unemployment problem or stagnant growth.

One of the articles I linked above shows the connection between unemployment and the infrastructure bank. The problem is, if we don’t do something about crumbling infrastructure, pretty soon any growth at all will be nigh impossible.

And if the New CCC has enough money to pay people high enough wages to stimulate the economy, then that means the government is sitting on some secret money.

There is talk of using money which has traditionally been put into other programs to do the initial funding of the Bank. I don’t think there is any secret money. There is also talk of getting private investors to invest in the Bank.

The CCC worked because of the context in which it was invented. I’m not saying no jobs program would work (AmeriCorps seems fine), but it would have to be reformulated for a new population and way of life.

You’re right, this would be something much different.