I came across this OpEd in the NYT this morning by David Brooks and it illustrates the current economic problems we’re facing pretty well.  Brooks allocates two sides to the economic debate.  The first he refers to as the cyclicalists who believe “that the economy is operating well below capacity. To get it moving at full speed, the government should borrow and spend more.”  And then there are the structuralists who believe the “core problems are structural, not cyclical. The recession grew out of and exposed long-term flaws in the economy. Fixing these structural problems should be the order of the day, not papering over them with more debt.”

I think this distinction is spot-on.  He identifies a number of overlapping structural problems:

1. Globalization and technological change that enable “hyperefficient globalized companies” that have a reduced need on employees, pay the higher-end skill sets rising salaries while lower-skilled jobs stagnate and, in my opinion, create enviable targets for cyclicalists.  Cases in point include the oil companies, high tech firms, etc.
2. The decline in the American education system.  Decades ago, we were a leader in education – now we’ve stagnated – having never changed how – and to a certain degree what – we teach in over 60 years.
3. Brooks identifies various deals that have been integrated into our tax and regulatory codes as “political sclerosis”, which results in disadvantages for new companies and politically unconnected or uninterested entities.  The net effect, in his words, is a less dynamic economy.

Clearly something needs to change and, as David Brooks points out, the debate is really over how much pain do yo subject the citizenry to in order to make these structural repairs.  It isn’t and shouldn’t be a debate over whether or not they need to be made – the math is simple, it isn’t sustainable.  
It would be a breath of fresh air if a politician came out before November and campaigned on really fixing this problem and treating it honestly.  Yes, it’s going to cause issues.  Yes, there’s going to be unemployment.  But here is the plan and it addresses all of these layers: education, technology, regulation, and the tax code.  We’ll get through this and the country will be stronger and sustainable when it’s done.

GorT

GorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. Some of the products he has introduced from the future include oven mitts, the Guinness widget, Oxy-Clean, and Dr. Pepper. Due to his immense cybernetic brain, GorT is able to produce a post in 0.023 seconds and research it in even less time. Only ’Puter spends less time on research. GorT speaks entirely in zeros and ones, but occasionally throws in a ڭ to annoy the Volgi. He is a massive proponent of science, technology, and energy development, and enjoys nothing more than taking the Czar’s more interesting scientific theories, going into the past, publishing them as his own, and then returning to take credit for them. He is the only Gormogon who is capable of doing math. Possessed of incredible strength, he understands the awesome responsibility that follows and only uses it to hurt people.