The most ambitious venture capitalist in the country has been shut down by the U.S. government. Who is it? The U.S. government. The most socially-beneficial industries, renewable energy,  restoration of the infrastructure (crumbling roads and bridges), career preparation programs from  K-college, have all been strangled by short-sighted cost-cutting measures in Congress.

Why do we applaud the ingenious, risk-taking entrepreneur, except if that entrepreneur is the federal government? Oh yes, the federal government is famous for waste and poor investments, but how many of our heroic entrepreneurs have misappropriated their own funds, in spite of careful forethought? The government is not the only investor to fund boondoggles.

Since the TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) of 2008-09 private capital has been holding back, according to those who track investments. The heroic entrepreneur has not risen to the occasion, which is, of course, the privilege of capitalism.

Meanwhile a vast natural resource, college graduates, is going untapped. According to the New York Times ( June 5, 2012) 19.1 % of college graduates are underemployed. This includes the “jobless plus involuntary part-timers and those who have given up an active job search.” Such a neglect of natural resources would not usually be tolerated by advocates of the free market. Employ, baby, employ!

But since the heroic entrepreneur is not ready to venture the funds long-ago sent forth to stimulate the economy, let the government be our venture capitalist. Let the ultimate venture capitalist do what government does best– support socially-beneficial programs.  Who will otherwise repair our infrastructure, invest in renewable energy, and reduce the inhumane class sizes in public schools? Don’t even suggest that the private sector can rejuvenate these enterprises! They have had three years to enter the breech and still energy technology and roads and students are neglected.

But the ultimate neglect is focused on the underemployed college graduates who are flinging their resumes into the wind this June.  This neglected natural resource is a generational tragedy. As the Times  reported:

The damage will be deep and lasting. The lack of good jobs at good pay, combined with high student debt loads, means a slower economy for a long time to come, as underemployed and indebted workers delay starting families and buying homes. . . If young people with college diplomas cannot prosper in America, who can?

To consider the long-term damage done by the neglect of this priceless resource is to recognize the folly of holding back federal funds that could put college graduates to work. We can not let political stalemate squander our great national resource. Unleash the benign venture capitalist! Employ, baby, employ!