Spring Break
Teachers face off on economic solutions
Aaron Hedge
Issue date: 6/25/08 Section: News
Economics professor Martin Shields stood in front of about 20 Fort Collins residents Monday night and told them that the only way to fix the economy is to provide more funding for education.
He cited statistics showing that, on average in northern Colorado, people with college degrees make nearly $40,000 more than workers who had dropped out of high school, and that the disparity is growing steadily.
At the same meeting, though, philosophy professor Philip Cafaro thinks the U.S. would be looking up financially on seven conditions:
Increase the minimum wage to half the average hourly wage
Expand the earned income tax credit
Create a more progressive federal and state tax structure
Repeal the Taft-Hartly Act to make stronger unions and create an employee free tax act
Limit immigration
Enact universal health care, and
Require high-school students to take a financial management class.
But some Fort Collins residents are skeptical, as they expressed at the community forum, which was hosted by Democratic state Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas.
"If I were the CEO of a company making widgets, I would move overseas today," said one the community members attending the forum in response to increasing minimum wage.
But Cafaro, who has seen the economy flourish in countries like Austria, where the average convenience store employee is guaranteed at least six weeks of vacation a year and makes a much bigger hourly wage than their U.S. counterpart, says that although economic growth has been spectacular since the turn of the century, economic disparity has steadily grown in the last 25 years.
"Growth clearly is not the answer here," he said. "We have to do something different. … It's almost as if everyone got a college education, we'd be fine. Well we wouldn't, because someone still has to take out the garbage."
He said that, despite the challenges of his proposals, anything is possible, mentioning his history in foreign countries.
He cited statistics showing that, on average in northern Colorado, people with college degrees make nearly $40,000 more than workers who had dropped out of high school, and that the disparity is growing steadily.
At the same meeting, though, philosophy professor Philip Cafaro thinks the U.S. would be looking up financially on seven conditions:
Increase the minimum wage to half the average hourly wage
Expand the earned income tax credit
Create a more progressive federal and state tax structure
Repeal the Taft-Hartly Act to make stronger unions and create an employee free tax act
Limit immigration
Enact universal health care, and
Require high-school students to take a financial management class.
But some Fort Collins residents are skeptical, as they expressed at the community forum, which was hosted by Democratic state Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas.
"If I were the CEO of a company making widgets, I would move overseas today," said one the community members attending the forum in response to increasing minimum wage.
But Cafaro, who has seen the economy flourish in countries like Austria, where the average convenience store employee is guaranteed at least six weeks of vacation a year and makes a much bigger hourly wage than their U.S. counterpart, says that although economic growth has been spectacular since the turn of the century, economic disparity has steadily grown in the last 25 years.
"Growth clearly is not the answer here," he said. "We have to do something different. … It's almost as if everyone got a college education, we'd be fine. Well we wouldn't, because someone still has to take out the garbage."
He said that, despite the challenges of his proposals, anything is possible, mentioning his history in foreign countries.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Marie
posted 6/26/08 @ 6:22 PM MST
I am not surprised that this philosophy professor's answer to all of our economic issues, which I doubt he really understands, comes back to the government paying for and controlling more aspects of our lives. (Continued…)
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