Seven stimulants

While Lord Mandelson urges banks to extend credit to struggling small businesses, the debate in America is more about opportunities to stimulate the economy. Dean Barker, co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, suggests seven things President Obama could do with the funds apparently at his disposal. I've shortened the summary - it's worth reading the whole thing on Truthout...

1) Extend Health Insurance - a time to invest, so that there's near-universal Medicare

2) Publicly Funded Clinical Trials - so that, in the end, the Government makes money from patents for new drugs, not the global drug companies - and, by delivering cheaper generic drugs, put back into circulation money currently spent on high prescription charges

3) Cash for Clunkers - the Government should buy back old, inefficient, polluting cars - putting money in the hands of (mainly) those on low and moderate incomes who are likely to go out and spend

4) Subsidies for Public Transportation - reducing energy spend, and, by reducing congestion, the amount wasted by cars idling in traffic jams

5) Funding for Writers/Artists/Creative Workers - it was a feature of the New Deal, and the one condition for support is that all material created should be made freely available in the public domain.

6) Funding for the Development of Open Software - with the ambition of making great working computers for everyone around $200 cheaper...

7) Pay for Shorter Workweeks and More Vacations - money flows into tourism, leisure etc