It seems that high
unemployment rates will been around for a long time. That’s bad for everyone, but if you’re among the unfortunate many who are looking for a new job, it’s worse. And, while there will be no escaping the long discussions about
jobs programs and
manufacturing policies, if you need work you need it now.
According to a
Kiplinger.com columnist, these are the 13 professions “that promise income growth, work-life balance, and social impact”:
- Higher-Education Administrator
- Program Evaluator
- Corporate Executive in Global Business Development or Managing Global Workforces
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist
- Immigration Expert
- Researcher (in energy, genomics, neurophysics, diagnostic imaging, pollution control)
- Health-Informatics Specialist
- Optometrist
- Genetic Counselor
- Patient Advocate
- Physical Therapist
- Veterinarian
Apparently — even for all the discussion and incentives to encourage the expansion of domestic manufacturing — no manufacturing sector promises income growth or any of the other rewards of employment. I’m sure there’s a lot of good to be done in the fields listed here, but if Kiplinger’s research is reliable then we have an even more serious problem than high unemployment.
The problem is that these jobs require training and specialization, which often costs a lot up front, and each one is essentially a service to someone or something else. The work done by individuals in those fields is not creating new, valuable products.
Remember a year or so ago
some of us were wondering whether economic panic was going to rush us into socialism? It was a concern about economic liberty, and the importance of liberty to capitalism. I don’t want to revive that debate, but we ought to remember another critical element of capitalism: capital.
Using liberty and capital we find the means to take things of a certain (or even of no) value to create new value, or even prosperity. That’s our reward. That is growth, and and policies or initiatives that will speed more of it will ensure a more secure future for everyone.