Problems Abound

January 2009 by Tom Polischuk

multipage

These are extraordinary times. The negative news just seems to never end. I keep waiting for things to hit rock bottom, but there must be a bottomless pit out there. Thank God the world is not flat, because there might be a lot of people lining up to jump off. (Of course, they wouldn’t get hurt because all the trash that would have spilled over the edge by now would cushion their fall.)

There are significant problems facing virtually every facet of our world—economic issues, environmental issues, security issues—and these just skim the surface. Our new president has his work cut out for him.

The world’s economic picture began crumbling several months ago and though things may have stabilized somewhat, the ramifications are being felt and will continue to be felt for years (decades?) to come.

It wasn’t long ago that our federal government debated and passed an economic stimulus package of $160 billion dollars that was designed to avoid, or at least soften, recessionary conditions. You remember that, don’t you? Most individuals got a $600 rebate, couples $1,200, and parents of dependent children got an additional $300. Businesses benefitted, too, with accelerated depreciation for new equipment that was geared toward stimulating capital investment. I’m sure quite a few companies in the package-printing industry took advantage of that benefit.

But that seems so long ago, and has since been dwarfed by financial commitments from the federal government to stave off a collapse of our financial institutions and even some industries. President Barack Obama has made the economy a top priority and expects to move swiftly to take further action. He recently announced the outline of a new stimulus package that may cost anywhere from $700 billion to $1 trillion. With this on top of the previous actions taken to stabilize our economy, reports are saying the total amount committed by the federal government is in the neighborhood of $8 trillion (ouch). Our grandchildren will be picking up the tab on this one.

Yet, action must be taken. The U.S. Labor Department reported earlier this month that 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, with unemployment running at 7.2 percent. That was the most jobs lost in a single year since 1945 when the massive industrial effort to support World War II was grinding to a halt.

If economic issues ever fade from the front pages, maybe some of the more serious environmental issues will make it back to page one. The continual build-up of CO₂ and its impact on global warming seems like it has gone from scientific curiosity to front page news over a relatively short span of time.