The U.S. economy is in shambles, and we are in danger of a second recession before we've completely pulled out of the previous one. Unemployment remains high, and businesses are not hiring in spite of rock-bottom interest rates and one of the largest cash surpluses in history. What we aren't hearing nearly enough about is that part of the reason businesses aren't hiring is that consumers are not buying what they have to sell. How can they afford to do so without jobs?

This is where the government has a role to play through stimulus spending. A cleverly designed stimulus program (e.g., hiring workers for a large scale public works projects) could help considerably. Not only would business benefit from a stronger infrastructure, but they would benefit from having more consumers with money to spend. And the people would benefit through increased employment.

The is the sort of program that pays for itself over time, but the question remains as to how we should pay for it initially. And the answer is clear to most of us: tax the rich.

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