Is the American Jobs Act Worth its Price Tag of $447 Billion?

“Business demand is what drives hiring."--Jeffery Braverman, owner of Nutsonline, in recent New York Times article

How do you create demand when people are unemployed? People need jobs to earn income, and you need people to have income in order to increase consumption, and you need consumption in the economy in order for businesses to experience demand. It's all cyclical.

The preliminary verdict on Obama's job creation plan, aka the American Jobs Act, is that it won't make a big dent in the unemployment rate. Cutting payroll taxes might cause employers across industries to "hire at the margins," because the monetary incentive provided just isn't enough...and a substantial number of jobs under the plan would be in the education (i.e. teachers who don't have to be laid off because of government support) and construction/transportation/infrastructure sectors. Unemployed white-collar, college-graduated people are probably looking over this, scratching their head and thinking, what part of the plan addresses my situation? Unless they're willing to become a construction worker (assuming they'll be hired) or have some sort of IT background, have worked or have an interest in the energy sector, or are looking to become certified in a healthcare sector job...three of the industries in the US predicted to grow in the near future.