We're all pretty much familiar with the government's economic
strategy by now.
But, just for any one who's missed it, here goes.
Bring down the country's massive public deficit and do
everything possible to boost private business which will provide
the economic growth AND create the jobs that will be lost from the
public sector when the big budget cuts really kick in. 
Starting from the battered position private business still finds
itself in after the worst economic downturn in living memory, this
is a big ask.
Yet few could really argue with the idea that the public sector
is obviously bloated, unsustainable, needs to be cut - and that
growth and jobs have to come from private business.
There isn't anywhere else for growth and jobs to come from,
after all.
For the government's plan to work, though, highly advantageous
conditions need to be created for private business to flourish,
especially smaller businesses where the lion's share of the jobs
are likely to be created - SME's already employ almost 60 per cent
of the private sector workforce (that's 13.7 million people)
*
The scale of the jobs creation problem is underlined by Alistair
Cox, chief executive of Hays, the UK's largest recruitment
agency. Speaking in the Financial Times recently, Mr Cox
warns that the private sector will fail to absorb the jobs lost in
the public sector as a result of the cuts.
The scale of the problem is hard to estimate with precision, but
the highly respected Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development has calculated that some 750,000 public sector jobs
will be gone by 2015.
Mr Cox's view is straightforward: "It's impossible to imagine
the private sector is going to have the confidence to create enough
jobs to absorb these people and the private sector is the only
place these people can go."
It's hard to argue with that.
What then could be done to create an environment that would
immediately free SMEs of a cash-draining cost - one that directly
discourages them from hiring more workers?
Mr Cox's solution - or least an excellent step in the right
direction - should be listened to in high places.
Getting rid of employer's national insurance is an inspired way
of encouraging businesses to recruit more staff. After
all, the coalition has already stopped a rise in business NI
contributions proposed by the previous government. Plus, it has
announced a 12-month NI holiday for the first 10 staff hired by new
businesses outside the south-east region.
Why not go further and take a truly dramatic and radical
measure?
Mr Cox admits the move would be "bold" and "brave" and would
"leave a black hole in the public finances." A £55 billion
sized hole in fact. But, as he says, "If the government wants
the private sector to create jobs, you have to make it easier for
them. There's a sense of urgency here."
Clearly, such a move could not be permanent; but how much better
it would be than simply pumping more cash into the economy to
stimulate spending.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
* figures from the Federation
of Small Businesses
