Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Publisher:

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13:

This document records the oral testimony and written statements of 13 U.S. Senators and Representatives, government officials, a corporate chairman, and a union president on the problem of economic stagnation in the United States and the formulation of a strategy to promote greater world competitiveness. Some witnesses focused on the need for better education and job training for the 20 percent of people considered illiterate in the United States, whereas most witnesses focused on the lack of family-supporting jobs. The witnesses said that millions of middle-wage jobs have disappeared, leaving only a few highly skilled, highly paid jobs and many part-time, low-wage jobs without benefits. Witnesses proposed creating strategies to encourage investment in manufacturing jobs in the United States, such as investment credits and elimination of barriers to exporting goods. Some witnesses opposed additional taxes to pay for improvements; others supported them for humanitarian purposes. Some were totally proponents of the free market, but others said that the free market had not created jobs for the past 20 years and that some sort of government stimulus was needed. A long-term investment, such as improvements in the infrastructure, was more favored than shorter-term approaches. (KC)