It’s Time to Let America Work Again

By Andrew F. Puzder

As we begin the process of reopening our economy, it is critical that we get back to work. The economic shutdown was intended to slow the spread of a lethal virus, not to permanently sacrifice our freedoms—and certainly not to expand government power and “fundamentally transform” America.

During the shutdown, we’ve learned what that transformed America would look like, and it is ugly. With millions of people out of work and dependent on government—lacking the dignity of a job, the security of a paycheck, or the opportunity for a better future—depression and despair are creating an “epidemic within the pandemic” of suicides and drug and alcohol addiction.

While there are risks, if we follow safety protocols and protect the vulnerable, we can safely reignite our economy as we undo the lockdown, eliminate policies that discourage work and enact policies that encourage hiring and growth. It’s time to reject the transformation to permanent government dependence and return instead to individual freedom and prosperity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Encounter Books
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781641771634

Andrew F. Puzder

Andrew F. Puzder is a Senior Fellow at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy. He is the former CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., and was President Trump's first nominee for Secretary of Labor.

Book preview

ENCOUNTER BROADSIDES

Inaugurated in the fall of 2 009, Encounter Broadsides are a series of timely pamphlets and e-books from Encounter Books. Uniting an 18th century sense of public urgency and rhetorical wit (think The Federalist Papers, Common Sense) with 21st century technology and channels of distribution, Encounter Broadsides offer indispensable ammunition for intelligent debate on the critical issues of our time. Written with passion by some of our most authoritative authors, Encounter Broadsides make the case for ordered liberty and the institutions of democratic capitalism at a time when they are under siege from the resurgence of collectivist sentiment. Read them in a sitting and come away knowing the best we can hope for and the worst we must fear.

Contents

Introduction

The Shutdown’s Unintended Consequences

It’s Time to Reopen

Stop Discouraging Work

Actively Encourage Work

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

TO DIFFERING DEGREES, states have started relaxing the strictest terms of the economic shutdown that federal and state authorities imposed on us in the face of mounting panic over COVID-19. Now we face a new problem: how to get people working again. My recent Broadside, Getting America Back to Work, addresses the need for free market policies to reignite the economy. This Broadside, It’s Time to Let America Work Again, addresses more specifically what we should do or, more importantly, undo to release the yoke of government dependence and reignite the vibrant jobs market our virus response crippled.

The first and most crucial step: stop discouraging work. As protests across the nation have demonstrated, Americans want to get back to work. Their frustration with policies that restrict their ability to control their futures is certainly understandable.

This collapse was neither an accident nor the result of negligence, greed, or malfeasance. It was