Recently I read an article by a very able economist, named William Truax, who specializes in tax strategies. Bill, not one to pull punches, brought up some disturbing information concerning the United States and its future. To sum up, he said: “The global political and economic reality is that the United States is a declining world power and has all the problems one would associate with the condition.”
This was not the main intent of the article, however. He was most interested in pointing out that neither presidential candidates, Senators Obama or McCain, nor former contender for the Democratic nomination, Senator Clinton, have offered any concrete ideas as to how they hope to address the actual economic situation that the United States is facing. He went into some detail in regards to each of the three and what he feels is their actual lack of understanding of the current economic situation.
For the record, and because it is nice to know from an expert why we are in the mess we are in, I think you should know who the culprit is according to Mr. Truax. He says: “This is largely due to the disincentives to production and work which are imbedded in a punitive tax system, an over-regulatory government, a court system too ready to award ‘damages” to unworthy victims, and a populace willing to trade freedom for promises of security. “ This is quite an indictment, to say the least.
However, as I stated at the beginning, my focus is not to debate the causes of the situation. My interest is in a solution to that problem that Mr. Truax provided. This particular solution can be implemented on the floor of every plant, in our schools, and at our job sites and offices. Furthermore, here at Creative Business Strategies, we are in the happy position of being specialists in helping companies to implement this very solution.
The solution is to increase productivity across the boards.
Another way to say this would be that Americans need to work harder. Now, this does need some clarification, because of course, the point is not that work should become more arduous. The point is that work done needs to be more productive. That means that time needs to be more effectively invested. These things are covered in a subject called Productivity and Time Management. When the principals of productivity and time management are operated on, not only does the company benefit with higher profits, the workers benefit as well.
For more than three decades, David Sanders and his top consultant at Creative Business Strategies have been bolstering the productivity of a wide variety of enterprises from private practices and small businesses to high tech, from manufacturers to schools. With more profit realized, it is possible to hire more personnel and pay bonuses. When productivity is the benchmark of a company, the people who work there benefit from increased morale and the pride of getting things done. It is a process well worth looking into, and to think, as Mr. Truax points out, it is the American thing to do.
Admittedly, increasing production across the boards is not a total solution, and certainly it would not play well as a political platform. But when you realize that the results of doing so include increased team work, increased responsibility, less breakage, fewer sick days, which always follows higher morale in a company, and the dozens and dozens of wasted work hours that can be recovered by increasing efficiency, it makes sense that this is one very workable route to keeping more people on the pay rosters.
Here is what Mr. Truax has to say about the importance of simply increasing productivity: “The people of America still have enough latent vitality to overcome the issues which face them, enough to bring prosperity, stability, and freedom, if only the artificial barriers to that vitality could be removed.” To see the whole article, go to http://www.truax.net/newsletter.html.
Once production is up, we can start working on some of the artificial barriers he has pointed to as the problem as well. But the key is increasing productivity and getting our time management under control. Whether it’s politically correct or not, It’s the American thing to do.
