Smith Faculty Opinion Article
The 30 Seconds Outlook
October 1, 2011
“The U.S. doesn’t need another war to revive the economy. We need a policy
turnaround like the one in the late 1930s.”
- H. L. Cole and L. E. Chapman, Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2011
What are federal regulators doing to reduce economic growth, increase
uncertainty, and decrease employment? The list is long, but some recent events
provide “good” examples of “bad” government.
- Regulators are currently working on over 800 new regulations affecting
small business.
- Businesses are emphasizing productivity rather than new hires because of
uncertainty over costs of Obamacare and added regulations, and tax
increases.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finds EPA “is abusing
traditional air quality laws” to force a reduction in national generating
capacity.
- U.S. Census Bureau claims the “official poverty rate” is the highest in
50 year with 49.9 million persons without health insurance. Actually, 16.6
households have incomes below $25,000, which is one-third of the 49.9
million. Many households have opted-out of health insurance due to health
cost increases with Obamacare.
- In 2002, Bernanke claimed monetary expansion with the change from
deflation in 1932 to inflation in 1934 was a major reason output increased.
However, between 1932 and 1934 the growth in per capita real GDP was
entirely due to productivity growth. Per capita total hours worked were
actually lower in 1932 than in 1934.
John A. Haslem
