With all due respect, the Wall Street Journal OpEd “The end of American Optimism” – which accurately sums up the condition of the economy – wrongly tends to blame mysterious “structural” issues rather than the government for our current problems, just as Jimmy Carter blamed a “national malaise” in 1979 for the failures of his Administration.
What the government needs to do is not all that difficult to figure out. As a beginning: Stop spending so much money. Don’t raise taxes. Repeal the health care bill, and declare a moratorium on new regulations that impose greater burdens and uncertainty on the economy.
To be sure, America faces long term challenges in areas like education. But right now, the problem is the federal government. Once the private sector becomes convinced that the government will actually stop attacking the free market, the private sector will once again begin hiring.
When Ronald Reagan was campaigning for President, he said the following. “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. And a recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his job.” And so it proved.