One way for governments to create jobs in a hurry is to pour money into old-fashioned public works projects like roads and bridges. President-elect Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan will do that, but it also has some ambitious 21st-century twists.
The $825 billion stimulus plan presented by Democrats in the House of Representatives on Thursday called for $37 billion in spending in three areas: $20 billion for computerizing medical records, $11 billion for smarter electrical distribution grids and $6 billion to expand high-speed Internet access in rural and underserved communities.
A study published this month, which was prepared for the Obama transition team, concluded that putting $30 billion into those three areas could produce more than 900,000 jobs in the first year. The mix of proposed spending is different in the House plan, but the results would be similar, said Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which did the study.
Beyond creating jobs, advocates say, government investment in these technology fields holds the promise of laying a lasting foundation for more innovation and efficiency in commerce, while helping to create new digital industries.
“The appeal of these kinds of investments is that you not only get the stimulative effect, but also build a platform for productivity gains and long-term growth,” said Blair Levin, a former senior official at the Federal Communications Commission and a member of the Obama transition team on technology policy.
During the campaign and afterward, Obama has championed policies to promote electronic health records, better broadband networks, and power grids that use computers and sensors to fine-tune electricity use. But the standard for including any initiative in the economic recovery plan is that it be “timely, targeted and temporary,” while also creating jobs, Levin said Wednesday in an address to the Congressional Internet Caucus, an advisory group….