As some of us worry that the Obama team isn’t showing the audacity we hoped for, and try to chivvy BHO into doing more for the economy, one demand that I’ve been getting is for specifics — what, exactly, should they do differently?
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The most independent outsiders can do is lay out general principles.
-Paul Krugman
Here is another problem-solving approach.When time is short (and we can argue about that) and experience is spread, then one solution is distributive processing of a type.
You set objective spending areas, such as "green spending" (smart-grid, better construction materials), healthcare, and infrastructure, relief, foreclosure-fixes (or entire-mortgage market re-engineering?), improved government (productivity boosts). For each, you set out objectives and constraints and try to dovetail them with an overall program acceleration, that is critical to managing psychology.
You invite people to fill out the spending, iteratively. This open process is messy, politically, but done right it can pull in a lot of expertise. (It is an 'optimal' project finance model, using dynamic programming, basically).
It's not just spending. One can think of other types of 'stimulus'.
Some states experimented with cutting fees, for such things as inspections and licenses. The federal government could cut passport fees. $20 here and there adds up. There are other "big picture" restructurings, like picking up some of the tab for Federal mandates that are a burden to some States.
The bankruptcy code has perverse incentives in it. Credit card companies need to be monitored to forestall a self-defeating 'end to lending'.
Some people have talked about bringing back the Office of Technological Assessment (OTA).
A list can be generated ...
