Lets invest in the future

We have to get over the current crises -- the legacy of the housing bubble and financial crisis of the Bush II administration and the Great Recession that they caused, the weakness of the euro, the debt crisis (federal, state and local government as well as private), and the political gridlock.

The economic health of the United States from 2035 to the end of the century must also be planned for and worked for now. The United States is in better shape for that future than are Europe and Japan because our population is not seeing the same changes. Those countries are seeing the percentages of their populations over retirement age increasing and a smaller percentage of the population newly entering the workforce.

The long term health of the American economy and indeed of those in the workforce now will depend on investments now -- roads, ICT infrastructure, energy infrastructure, science and technology.

It will also depend on human resources. Notably, we need to continue to attract immigrants, and ideally we should attract immigrants who contribute the most to our economy -- entrepreneurs, innovators and the like.

We also have to invest in the kids who are being born here. The kids who are being born now will be entering the work force around 2035. Just over half of the kids born in the last year are from minorities -- Hispanic, black, Asian, Native American, or other. Unfortunately, we are not investing enough in kids from minority ethnic groups and as a result they drop out of school earlier and are less successful in school. Unless that is corrected, the competitiveness of the United States in what is likely to be an increasingly global economy will be diminished. Life expectancy is now about 80 years. Thus almost everyone under the age of 60 in 2015 will be alive in 2035, and an increasing portion of them should be retired and depending on the new entrants to the workforce for the economic health of the United States and indeed for their income.

Lets invest in the kids.