Creating jobs a priority at Commerce

How’s the economy doing?

The free fall in the economy appears to be over. The signs are encouraging. The unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent from 9.5. Consumer confidence is up. But it’s nowhere near what the president wants, which is millions of people back to work, having hope and confidence in the future.

A lot of economists are talking about a slow recovery. How might we spur a faster one?

It took us many years to get into this dismal state of affairs. It’s going to take several years to fully recover. But clearly the stimulus is having a positive impact. And the money is just beginning to flow. Billions of dollars went out to the states for road construction, bridge repair, construction of schools.

This September, we’re going to announce the first phase of broadband money that will go out across America and result in jobs to bring high-speed Internet service to both rural America and under-served urban areas.

Do we need another round of fiscal stimulus?

You really need to see how well the money is being used before you start saying you’re going to put more money out. The money has not been fully released yet. You’re going to see more benefit in the coming months.

Has the nation lost its competitiveness, and if we have, how do we get our edge back?

Clearly, there’s been too much focus on profits from the financial sector. The president is really focusing on jobs of the future, green technology, research and development, stimulating innovation that will create good paying, long-term, sustainable jobs for the American people.

You’ve heard the criticisms of health care reform: costly, bureaucratic, takes away choice. How is health care reform going to make US businesses more competitive?

Unless we enact health care reform, American businesses are not going to be competitive. When companies are facing 10 to 15 percent annual increases in health care premiums, that cannot be sustained.

There are a lot of people who are concerned about it, who have questions. But the deliberate distortions, that health care reform is going to promote euthanasia among seniors. . . . Where are they coming up with this garbage?

Some people think this is going to be Canadian-style health care. No, it’s not. If you like the health care coverage you have, if you like your doctors, no change. But we need to make sure that some 40 million Americans who don’t have health insurance are covered because it’s costing everybody else when they show up in emergency rooms and hospitals.

You spoke about trade in your speech. What about China? Businesses complain about manipulation of currency, about openness of their markets. Do we need to get tougher on China?

We have been consistently raising these issues with the Chinese. Intellectual property protection is a big issue for American companies and the American government, and making sure that the Chinese do not raise barriers and follow polices that favor Chinese companies to the exclusion of American companies. It’s a high priority for me - helping increase exports of US goods and services. That’s part of the economic recovery.

A lot of economists say that to get the global economic system back in balance, we have to produce more and China has to consume more. . .

And in fact, as part of their economic stimulus, they have really focused on internal consumption. So that’s really an opportunity for American companies. We should capitalize on that increased consumer demand.

As you also mentioned in your speech, the Massachusetts economy is based on innovation. What can the federal government do to encourage innovation?

The president’s 2010 budget calls for a significant increase in [research and development] tax credits for innovation. The president announced almost $2.5 billion in grants for research focusing on electric vehicles and the development of next generation automotive batteries. The stimulus is focused on not just shovel-ready projects, but jobs of the future that will be spawned from innovation.