Keep the Faith in Technology as a Key to GDP Expansion and Job Growth

It's a very small consolation to an out-of-work American software developer to hear that high rates of unemployment are a trailing indicator of an economic recession. But as we are witnessing an uneven – some would say frail – recovery from the calamity of 2008, it's a fact that hiring new workers is often last on the list of what businesses do as they seek to regain their footing. In technology, as in other sectors, hiring will resume – but not fast enough for many of the people still bearing the brunt of recession.

During recessions, business leaders are forced to do “more with less" – and thus they tend to drive new efficiencies. Some of this is suggested by the “automation" point in the Times article. In addition, both businesses and individual consumers are now conserving cash, saving more, spending less. If a business adjusted to managing its sales volumes during the recession, they are understandably cautious – amid all the “double dip" talk – to dial up hiring too fast or too soon.

The large U.S. technology firms will do their share of hiring, as American talent remains one of the key factors in making these companies globally competitive. But we should also look to unclog the nation's IPO machinery. During the 1990s technology boom, there were lots of very successful startups (more than just failed dot-coms), and that decade also witnessed unprecedented economic growth, government budget surpluses as opposed to deficits and the net creation of 23 million U.S. jobs. We should keep the faith in technology as one of the keys to GDP expansion and job growth.