Unemployment over 12% is unacceptable!

In 2009, Florida has lost over 500,000 jobs, and now it is over 1,400,000 jobs and still counting. Yet, none of the candidates for governor have a viable plan to create jobs in Florida except for Farid Khavari.

 
We must create enough jobs to replace those that have been lost, and to build a sustainable economy that makes Florida immune from future recessions. The biggest mistake a government can do is to stimulate the economy on the supply side while totally neglecting the demand side. No stimulus package like Cash for Clunkers will be effective enough to stimulate the economy and much less create full-employment. In contrast, the Khavari Economic Plan is devised to stimulate the economy from the demand side without depending on subsidies or any substantial cost to the tax payers, state or anybody else.

There are three main aspects to this plan.

First, the jobs we create must be cost-cutting jobs. This means that they produce products and services that reduce costs for the customers. For example, solar energy equipment makes free energy and the buyers will save many times the cost of the products over time.

Second, we must create jobs which pay enough for people to buy homes, raise families, and so on. For the purposes of our calculations, the jobs we create will have base pay of $35,000 plus medical and retirement benefits. This way, more and more jobs will be created as the multiplier effect of our new jobs flows through our economy.

Third, we must create enough jobs to replace those that have been lost, and to build a sustainable economy for Florida that will be immune from future recessions. We can create over a million jobs with this plan.

The Khavari Economic plan will replace the 1,000,000 jobs and create thousands more by creating jobs that produce products and services that truly reduce costs for the customers like:

1. Solar thermal (water heating and electric power)
2. Solar photovoltaic (solar electricity)
3. Waste heat electric power generation
4. Cooling towers on existing houses
5. Dehumidifiers for the cooling towers
6. Water purification systems for purifying the collected humidity (water) for drinking use and domestic use
7. Converting existing healthcare delivery clinics or building new high-efficiency, productivity-inducing (cost-cutting) clinics
8. Conversion of existing vehicles to electric-powered vehicle

These and more are mentioned in Farid Khavari’s latest book, Towards a Zero Cost Economy, which you can download for free.

These technologies will create jobs in manufacturing and in installation and service, so we will create these kinds of jobs:

1. Manufacturing of the related products
2. Construction
3. Engineers and architects
4. Plumbing contractors
5. Electrical contractors
6. Roofing contractors
7. Mechanics & car dealerships
8. City and municipality (permit, inspection, etc.)
9. Financing, banking and insurance industries

How can we create so many jobs? How can our weakened economy be transformed into sustainable prosperity?  First, we need to eliminate stupid little details that prevent jobs from being created. Then, we need leadership and a plan. Then, good old capitalism will take care of the rest.

Here is an example: Solar Thermal. We have all heard that “green jobs” will revitalize the economy. Green jobs are certainly revitalizing China’s economy (projected to grow 7.6% this year!). What about our Sunshine State? Let’s look at why these manufacturing jobs are not in Florida now.

First, the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, a state agency, is the only testing and certification agency for solar products in the U.S. Without this certification, solar products cannot be sold or installed. The waiting period to get a solar collector tested or certified is about a year and a half. Most of the products waiting for certification come from China.

To manufacture in Florida, a company would need to build a factory, hire workers, produce products, then wait for almost two years before they could sell one unit! How can anyone do that, even in a booming economy? All we need to do is to order the FSEC to move Florida manufacturers to the front of the line, with other U.S. manufacturers next in line. Cost: a couple of phone calls by the governor. We could also increase the FSEC’s budget by a million dollars per year (repaid by manufacturers in testing fees), and the entire solar industry in the U.S. would take off. Net cost: zero dollars.

Now, let’s see how leadership and a plan can create jobs. Our plan is to install 500,000 solar water heaters per year in Florida. Since that is about 30 times the number of solar water heaters installed in the entire U.S. each year, we need plenty of manufacturing. Florida has the #5 business-friendly economy in the U.S. (compared with California at #48). Once we remove the silly bureaucratic barriers and show the demand, manufacturers will flock to Florida to make solar collectors, water tanks, pumps, electronics, etc. to meet the demand. Cost to us, ZERO.

Solar water heaters are an excellent example of creating cost-cutting jobs. Currently, with the low volume of business, solar water heaters are priced way too high. To be a good value, the system must pay for itself in 7 years or less. This means that the price, including financing, must be repaid by the monthly savings. Here is a case where the Bank of the State of Florida can help (and earn billions for our treasury) with 2% financing. Other banks may wish to join in, too.

With our combined buying power and huge volumes, we can get the price of solar water heaters down immediately.

A solar water heater will save you from $350 to $700 per year, tax free. If you save that money instead of paying for electricity, you can have an extra $10,000 to $20,000 or more in your retirement account. That is a small cost reduction adding up to big money for everyone.

So how many jobs can we get from solar water heaters alone? In manufacturing, building trades (plumbers, electricians, roofers) and installation labor, we can expect the direct creation of 35,000 permanent jobs. And due to the multiplier effect, when 35,000 people get good jobs in the private sector, an additional 105,000 jobs will be created within another year. So, just from solar water heaters we will end up with about 140,000 new jobs within two years as the 35,000 new workers buy homes, cars, clothing, food, etc. And that 140,000 jobs will create 300,000 more in another two years. All this, just from solar water heaters.

Governments typically spend (“invest” or “stimulate”) $35,000 to $60,000—or more—to create one new job, are we going to spend $7 billion to create these jobs?

No, we are going to spend ZERO. All we need is a plan and leadership to make it happen.

Sustainable? At 500,000 water heaters per year, in 10 years we will not even cover half of the homes in Florida. And don’t worry, there are many millions of homes in other states and countries that our Florida manufacturers can sell to, and new products for our Florida workers to produce and install as well.

Now look at all the other categories on the list of jobs above. We can get back our 700,000 lost jobs and plenty more, all for little or no investment by our treasury. When we create 200,000 cost-cutting jobs in the areas listed above, we will end up with close to a million new jobs, which ultimately will create another million.

Within four years we will face another crisis in Florida: a shortage of workers. Well, that is the kind of problem we need. Never mind, there are plenty of people in Michigan and Ohio and New York who would love to come live in Florida with us!