Want to make entrepreneurship easier to enter? Then make sure affordable, portable health care is part of what the government spends money on. Otherwise, people will be afraid that catastrophe will strike when they head out to follow their business dream.

Regarding green jobs: they are a class of job that will, in my opinion, add large net positive to our economy. As carbon intensive, mining-based energy jobs from around the world are replaced with carbon neutral infrastructure-based green energy in the US, the net benefit for working class Americans is very strong.

Most new jobs are created by small businesses. So tax breaks for small businesses and streamlined regulations for them are the most likely way to create new jobs. Favoring certain types of small businesses is usually counterproductive because businesses spend more time and effort qualifying for the government advantages than doing productive things that create jobs in the long run. And it discourages people from coming up with new ideas that the government can’t imagine in fields they don’t understand.

@Laurie – Get your screwdriver ready. I am sending you out to work on a wind turbine.

Bring on green jobs. Yeah!

Like you, I continue to wonder how all of the anticipated jobs creation related to new/improved infrastructure will be the long term solution to our economic troubles. True, we need many improvements and going “green” is all good. But to help our economy long term – we need people trained in the skills that businesses need today and in the future. We should be figuring out how to grow/build knowledge workers and creatives and you’ve made some good suggestions. Instead, we’re outsourcing work and bringing in talent from other countries to fill the gaps we have. Our situation certainly won’t change overnight, but we need to get started!