[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 43 (Thursday, March 13, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ALTERNATIVE PUBLIC SPENDING: EFFECTS ON JOB CREATION

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                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 13, 2008

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, last week's report of the February 
jobs figures--a net loss of 63,000 jobs--is yet another sign that we 
need to act to spur employment. We need to stimulate the economy and to 
create the good jobs that will help working families across the country 
achieve the American dream.
  I would like to bring my colleagues' attention to a recent study that 
gives us new information on how to achieve that goal. The study, 
completed by economists at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 
evaluates the economic relationship between public spending and job 
creation. The study, ``The U.S. Employment Effect of Military and 
Domestic Spending Priorities,'' concludes that public dollars invested 
in health care, education, mass transit or construction for home 
weatherization and infrastructure create more jobs than investing an 
equivalent amount in either military or personal consumption through 
tax cuts.
  The study evaluates the relative effects on job creation of investing 
an equivalent amount of federal dollars in three scenarios: (1) private 
consumption through tax cuts, (2) the military, and (3) domestic 
investments. This important study finds each billion dollars of federal 
funding would create: 10,799 jobs if spent on tax cuts designed to spur 
personal consumption; 8,555 jobs if allocated for military spending; 
12,883 jobs if invested in health care; 17,687 jobs if invested in 
education; 19,795 jobs if invested in mass transit; 12,804 jobs if 
invested in home weatherization and infrastructure.
  The bottom line is that public dollars invested in health care, 
education, mass transit, or construction for home weatherization and 
infrastructure create more jobs than investing an equivalent amount in 
either the military or personal consumption.
  I hope that my colleagues will review this study, and I would like to 
thank the Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), the Institute for 
Policy Studies, and the Political Economy Research Institute at the 
University of Massachusetts-Amherst for their work in this area.

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