It’s the Economy, Stupid: KPFK Wed. 9/8

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HAROLD MEYERSON
says American workers face a “God-awful” future — “Millions have lost their jobs. Millions have had their lives put on hold or thrown into reverse.”   It’s time for a massive public works program — but is Obama’s big enough?  Harold is a columnist for the L.A. Times and the Washington Post and editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Plus: AMY WILENTZ reports on her return to Haiti last month — as the country prepares for an election, to be held ten months after the earthquake.   Amy wrote about her trip for The New Yorker: “Running in the Ruins.” Her book The Rainy Season: Haiti Then and Now, is out now in a new paperback edition.

Also: KATHA POLLITT has just returned from a year in Berlin; she says “IT’S BETTER OVER THERE.” Germany doesn’t have the kind of destitution we take for granted in the United States, especially for African-Americans. The strong German safety net keeps people from plunging into the abyss.  Katha is a poet, essayist and columnist for The Nation; she has been named the recipient of the American Book Award’s prestigious “Lifetime Achievement” prize for 2010.