One of the more ridiculous proposals to ever come from the White House was floated in the latest Economic Report of the President 2004, which chronicles the administration’s take on the state of the American economy.
As the New York Times noted last week, this year’s White House report “questions whether fast-food restaurants should continue to be counted as part of the service sector or should be reclassified as manufacturers.”
This is one of those ideas that is as absurd as it sounds. The administration is embarrassed by the dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs in this country and instead of doing something about the crisis, it’s wondering whether to just change the definition of “manufacturing job” to including low-wage fast food jobs.
As the Times noted:
Counting jobs at McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food enterprises alongside those at industrial companies like General Motors and Eastman Kodak might seem like a stretch, akin to classifying ketchup in school lunches as a vegetable, as was briefly the case in a 1981 federal regulatory proposal.
But the presidential report points out that the current system for classifying jobs “is not straightforward.” The White House drew a box around the section so it would stand out among the 417 pages of statistics.
“When a fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger, for example, is it providing a ‘service’ or is it combining inputs to ‘manufacture’ a product?” the report asks.
I’ve heard several amusing responses to this insanity, but Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) had my favorite.
In a letter (pdf) to Greg Mankiw, the chairman of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors, Dingell had a little fun at the White House’s expense.
It could be inferred from your report that the administration is willing to recognize drink mixing, hamburger garnishing, French/freedom fry cooking, and milk shake mixing to be vital components of our manufacturing sector.
I am sure the 163,000 factory workers who have lost their jobs in Michigan will find it heartening to know that a world of opportunity awaits them in high growth manufacturing careers like spatula operator, napkin restocking, and lunch tray removal. I do have some questions of this new policy and I hope you will help me provide answers for my constituents:
Will federal student loans and Trade Adjustment Assistance grants be applied to tuition costs at Burger College?
Will the administration commit to allowing the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to fund cutting edge burger research such as new nugget ingredients or keeping the hold and cold sides of burgers separate until consumption?
Will special sauce now be counted as a durable good?
Do you want fries with that?