It is a depression, and there is a solution

Economists are befuddled by what they see in our economic world today. They are grasping at any strategy to cure our economy. Perhaps the first order of business is to look at the symptoms:

1. High worldwide unemployment rate.

2. Staggering foreclosure rate in the United States.

3. Slow to no growth of most world economies.

4. Very slow permanent job creation.

5. Record-low interest rates.

If I was playing on “Jeopardy” with these clues, I would answer “what is a depression.”

I believe the federal government can do a great service by doing as President Roosevelt did during the Great Depression: Create local Work Projects Administration-type systems where each community gets federal money to redo major roads, bridges, dams and national parks. This would create a great nation and put its people back to work again.

Ed Lowry

Cedar Rapids