An estimated 14 million Americans are unemployed now, counting both those currently receiving unemployment checks and those whose benefits have expired and who have given up looking for jobs. Most experts agree that, even under the most optimistic scenarios, unemployment will remain at 8 percent or above between now and November 2012. So irrespective of ideological considerations — the Phoenix Center is a strong proponent of free markets — Obama would be well-advised to pay close attention to its findings.
According to the Phoenix study, “even a small 5% reduction in the regulatory budget (about $2.8 billion) would result in about $75 billion in expanded private-sector GDP each year, with an increase in employment by 1.2 million jobs annually. On average, eliminating the job of a single regulator grows the American economy by $6.2 million and nearly 100 private sector jobs annually.” The reverse is true as well, according to Phoenix, which said “each million dollar increase in the regulatory budget costs the economy 420 private sector jobs.”
“Our statistical analysis of historical data indicates that federal expenditures on regulatory activity have a significant impact on the size of the private-sector economy and private-sector employment,” says Dr. George S. Ford, chief economist at the Phoenix Center. “While the entire federal budget must be cut to address the deficit problem, the evidence indicates that reductions in the overall federal regulatory budget may substantially impact the growth of economic output and employment.”
It’s hard to imagine any way of making it clearer: Whatever merits it may otherwise have, the federal regulatory bureaucracy is a tremendous drag on the economy, diverting and destroying the very precious investment capital that is essential to generating the growth that creates jobs that pay the taxes that fund the government.
That’s okay. The government can always, say, select a handful of companies, a handful of universities, and whatever tax revenues are left to spend and direct the economy to grow that way.
I mean, it worked for Mussolini, right?
In related news, according to a study by the protein wisdom Institute for Studying the Obvious, cutting calories produces weight loss; cutting jeans off above the knee or anywhere below the crotch produces jean shorts / Daisy Dukes; and cutting a starfish in half produces two starfishes, or at the very least , the pleasure one derives from cutting something precisely in half.
No, really.
that’s fine in theory but remember what we learned about how this works in practice, yes?
union whores and bureaucrats what want to ass-rape america with their hyper-regulatory prongy prong prongs aren’t going to dissuaded by budget cuts
it’s who they are it’s what they do
Re-instating the Glass-Steagall law, repealing Dodd-Frank, and ceasing operations completely and then selling off Fannie/Freddie to private capital is at the heart of the real stimulus our economy needs.
Along with a major spending-ectomy, that is.
Or bariatric surgery, perhaps?
https://proteinwisdom.com/pub/?p=3642#more-3642
I’m sorry. Really sorry. Our “representatives” have only one fear – strike that. They have NO FEAR because they ae set for life, no matter what happens to us proles.
Do you actually think that Mr. Marxist piece of shit even THINKS about the rest of us? As Santa Claus says: “HO! HO! HO!
Our representatives “feel the pain”?
BZZZZZZT! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! They are too busy plumbing the depths of Karl Marx’s ridiculously stupid,and obviously messy, deep, deep butthole.
What do they care? They and Anthony could care less. THEY ARE SET FOR LIFE at our expense. FUCK YOU, IGNORAMUSES! PAY MY WAY, AND, BY THE WAY, BEND OVER, YOU STUPID ASSHOLES! BUT FIRST, HAND ME YOUR WALLET! IT’S MINE, MINE, MINE!!!!!!
Bad attitude?
I don’t think so, but Jon (no “H” for hubris) Stewart might take exception to anyone who thinks that he is not a comedian…
OOOOOOHHHH!
On a roll, huh? One of those days.
That’s what happens when you have to take a job at Home Depot, where every day is groundhog day!
Of course cutting government red tape produces new jobs, but not the right kind of jobs. Angelo Codevilla’s excellent little book explains that bureaucrats and red tape are necessary to the functioning of crony capitalism and help maintain the control of the Ruling Class. They don’t care how few jobs they produce or how many they destroy out in flyover country, they only care how many jobs they can create and how much loot they can swing toward their supporters and contributors, because it’s not about jobs, it’s about power.
I’ve only made it a little way into the book, but so far I can highly recommend it. It’s mostly stuff those of us with a libertarian bent already knew or at least suspected, but presented with more logic and less paranoia than usual. Codevilla makes the Ruling Class out to be less power-mad, Diabolically Evil geniuses, and more utterly self-serving, banally evil putzes, which rings true.
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Palin recognized all that, newrouter, and went after her own party as a result. Look up the story of “The Magnificent Seven” in Alaska. Look at the ethics reforms Palin instituted.
She works for the people. That’s what she sees her job as — and did, both as Mayor and Governor.
For that reason, she is a very real threat to the political class — and their offshoot industries, including professional inside the Beltway pundits, political analysts, political consultants, the mainstream press, and so on.
newrouter –
“Several major steps are necessary in order to dispossess this professional politcal establishment from its entrenched position of power, not only at the federal level, but also in the state and local organizations. Some progress has been made in these areas, but there is obviously a long and difficult road ahead.”
I think the first “step” should be pissed off snipers.
mr. jeff yes that’s true about my favorite moose hunter. although a big supporter of sp i’m ambivalent on her running in 2012. i think it would be good if the leftards had to make up a new boogey man narrative for allan willing our conservative nominee(cain, bachmann, santorum, even tpaw).
mr zino3,
to be clear those are the words of mr.veryretired over at Samizdata blog
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