David Brooks, "The Vigorous Virtues": The Ongoing Need for an Instigator State

In his most recent New York Times op-ed entitled "The Vigorous Virtues" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/opinion/brooks-the-vigorous-virtues.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss), David Brooks tells us that streamlining and reforming government are insufficient to restore America's "vigorous virtues" and that government still must play a role in instigating renewal by addressing educational, structural and social deficiencies. Of particular interest is Brooks's claim regarding economic stagnation:

"There’s strong evidence to suggest that the rate of technological innovation has been slowing down. In addition, America is producing fewer business start-ups. Job creation was dismal even in the seven years before the recession, when taxes were low and Republicans ran the regulatory agencies. As economist Michael Spence has argued, nearly all of the job growth over the past 20 years has been in sectors where American workers don’t have to compete with workers overseas."

From my own limited subjective perspective, I don't see any slowdown in technological innovation. My aging head spins from the new ideas which I confront almost daily in the fields of medicine, medical devices, communications and defense. Also, a day does not go by when I am not asked to opine upon the prospects of a start-up seeking capital for expansion.

However, innovation and resultant efficiency can cost jobs. Moreover, my belief is that advanced computing and communications capabilities have enabled the elite few to do the work once performed by thousands of persons who together cannot achieve at the same lofty level.

How do we nevertheless jumpstart the economy? We often see suggestions that the US needs to renovate its infrastructure and provide bullet train service of the kind available in China, but given the past decade's advances in communications, much of my work, for example, does not require my physical presence in a client's office. Again on a personal level, my time is better spent avoiding travel.

I agree with Brooks that there is a need for government and that an "instigator state will have to be built up." Yet, I think more time needs to be devoted to defining the challenges to be presented by government to corporations and society as a whole in order to foster renewal and growth in fields offering sustainable employment opportunities. I think taxation must also be regarded as a carrot and stick mechanism intended to stimulate economic revival, as opposed to a mere burdensome encumbrance.

Most important of all, there is no one route back to recovery, and there has to be a confident experienced guide, in whom those being led place their trust, at the head of the convoy. This is sorely lacking.