FROM THE WSJ: "Regualtion for Dummies" We are the Dummies by the way for putting Leftists in charge of, first, the Congress in 2007 and then, the White House in 2009.
“The evidence is overwhelming that the Obama regulatory surge is one reason the current economic recovery has been so lackluster by historical standards. Rather than nurture an economy trying to rebuild confidence after a financial heart attack, the Administration pushed through its now-famous blitz of liberal policies on health care, financial services, energy, housing, education and student loans, telecom, labor relations, transportation and probably some other industries we’ve forgotten. Anyone who thinks this has only minimal impact on business has never been in business.” What should be added to the list is the real threat of significantly higher future tax burdens.
“One also has to take into consideration whether markets are being allowed to work and if the “regime” is certain; stable, predictable, and consistent with stated policy, and the policy is conducive to entrepreneurship and prudent risk taking. Policies that impede competition and impose excessive tax burdens—or that in any way simply add to costs, reduce expected returns, or increase the uncertainty of business activity—are seen as the most important factors in forestalling recovery and turning economic corrections into stagnation, stagflation or depression.” Historically, policies and actions that threaten property rights create “regime uncertainty” or “regime worsening,” and this delays recovery. Not mentioned, but also significant is any concerted verbal assault on economic freedom which implies a threat of “regime worsening” (Powell 2009) on a large scale which can only make matters worse.
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