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Nobel-prize winning US economist Paul Krugman’s advice for President Barack Obama on how to end the economic crisis in the US and set the country back on track could be applied to many countries around the world, UNI Global Union said today.



One of Krugman’s top pieces of advice to the new President: push for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would help increase the number of unionised workers in the US and build the ranks of the shrinking middle class.



In the latest issue of music magazine Rolling Stone, Krugman publishes an open letter to Obama urging him to attach conditions to the bank bailout that ensure the money does not just sit in the banks but goes into the real economy. Krugman says public-works projects to get the unemployed back into workforce and tax cuts targeted at lower and middle-income Americans are also necessary. He also encourages Obama to start increasing health insurance coverage for Americans with the view to eventually enacting single-payer healthcare in the US.



Creating jobs, protecting union organising and bargaining rights, tax cuts for the people who need it most and healthcare for all should be part of the recovery plan for every government worldwide, UNI says.



Last week in a meeting in Washington with US and international union leaders, UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings pledged the support of UNI’s 900 unions world-wide in the fight to pass the Free Choice act. Jennings also met with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund to impress on him the importance of creating good jobs and protecting workers’ rights as part of the plan to combat the global financial crisis.



“The only real solution to the crisis in the US and globally is to create fundamental change in the way we look at business, capital and workers,” Jennings said. “This crisis cannot be used as an excuse to ignore the interests of workers and, in fact, it is crucial that their interests are a key part of any recovery plan.”



You can read what the US labour federation AFL-CIO said about Krugman’s article here.



Click here to read Krugman’s full letter.