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Memo to the President: The Less You Do, The More Jobs We'll Create
Posted Dec 03, 2009 02:54pm EST by Peter Gorenstein in Investing, Recession
The White House, desperate to lower the 10.2% unemployment rate, is looking for any and all ideas to help get Americans back to work. Not only is President Obama using his jobs summit to listen to some of the country's brightest business leaders, he's also encouraging suggestions from average Americans.
PR stunt or not, Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust, is taking him up on his offer. His simple advice: Less is more.
Wesbury, an opponent of Keynesian economics, tells Aaron the government "should be doing more to create jobs but the way you do that is you shrink the size of the government."
Excessive deficit spending makes Wesbury's favored idea for boosting jobs - cutting taxes - a near impossibility. And, unlike Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, the economist firmly believes a second stimulus and more government works programs prohibit private sector growth.
Programs like Cash for Clunkers may help boosts sales and save some auto jobs in the near term but "there's no free lunch," Wesbury reminds us. Edmunds.com has calculated taxpayers paid $24,000 for every car sold.
Wesbury also says the uncertainty over health care reform is also hindering job creation. "How do small businesses increase the amount of jobs when they have so much uncertainty about the future?," he asks.
Posted Dec 03, 2009 02:54pm EST by Peter Gorenstein in Investing, Recession
The White House, desperate to lower the 10.2% unemployment rate, is looking for any and all ideas to help get Americans back to work. Not only is President Obama using his jobs summit to listen to some of the country's brightest business leaders, he's also encouraging suggestions from average Americans.
PR stunt or not, Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust, is taking him up on his offer. His simple advice: Less is more.
Wesbury, an opponent of Keynesian economics, tells Aaron the government "should be doing more to create jobs but the way you do that is you shrink the size of the government."
Excessive deficit spending makes Wesbury's favored idea for boosting jobs - cutting taxes - a near impossibility. And, unlike Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, the economist firmly believes a second stimulus and more government works programs prohibit private sector growth.
Programs like Cash for Clunkers may help boosts sales and save some auto jobs in the near term but "there's no free lunch," Wesbury reminds us. Edmunds.com has calculated taxpayers paid $24,000 for every car sold.
Wesbury also says the uncertainty over health care reform is also hindering job creation. "How do small businesses increase the amount of jobs when they have so much uncertainty about the future?," he asks.
