Review: Businesses Say Lack of Demand, Not Regulation, Kills Jobs
On Aug. 29, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor asked fellow Republican lawmakers to make the repeal of “job-destroying regulations” a top priority in the upcoming Republican jobs agenda. Bruce Bartlett, former senior policy adviser in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, says bollocks. (more)
On Aug. 29, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor asked fellow Republican lawmakers to make the repeal of “job-destroying regulations” a top priority in the upcoming Republican jobs agenda. Bruce Bartlett, former senior policy adviser in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, says bollocks.
In his opinion, “regulatory uncertainty is a canard invented by Republicans that allows them to use current economic problems to pursue an agenda supported by the business community year in and year out. In other words, it is a simple case of political opportunism, not a serious effort to deal with high unemployment.”
In 2007, he points out, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began asking businesses nationwide why they laid off workers. In 2008, only about 5,500 layoffs were attributable to government regulation, accounting for no more than 0.4 percent of total layoffs. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of employees were let go due to lack of demand, comprising a minimum of 30 percent of all layoffs in the years fully recorded. And job loss due to regulation has declined—not increased—since Obama became president. –ARK
Wait, before you go…Economix at The New York Times:
These results are supported by surveys. During June and July, Small Business Majority asked 1,257 small-business owners to name the two biggest problems they face. Only 13 percent listed government regulation as one of them. Almost half said their biggest problem was uncertainty about the future course of the economy — another way of saying a lack of customers and sales.
The Wall Street Journal’s July survey of business economists found, “The main reason U.S. companies are reluctant to step up hiring is scant demand, rather than uncertainty over government policies, according to a majority of economists.”
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other "Left, Right & Center" panelists discuss whether it's "Onward to the 7th Century" in Iraq, the Republican attempt to elect a new leader after Eric Cantor's shocking loss and the accusation that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was involved in a criminal scheme to stave off recall efforts in 2012.
A number of new studies and analyses are indicating that Americans, who once chose neighborhoods that reflected their own ethnicity and religion, are now moving to places where they feel ideologically comfortable -- a development that will make American politics even more polarized than it already is.
The 2014 campaign is being waged against a backdrop of national news dominated by everything except the core economic worries of most Americans.
Salon columnist Thomas Frank explains House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's surprising loss to a tea party primary challenger last week as "part of a long-running and basically unchanging Republican melodrama. …An eternal populist revolt against leaders who never produce and problems that never get solved."
Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other "Left, Right & Center" panelists discuss House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's unexpected loss to a tea party challenger. The National Review's Rich Lowry calls it "one of the most stunning upsets any of us have ever witnessed." Scheer says the defeat is "a response to pain" in the region. And what should the U.S. do as Sunni insurgents advance in Iraq?
The Republican Party's reliance on tea party support is like an addict's dependence on a dangerous drug: It may feel good at first, but eventually it eats you alive.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.