The Ghost of the Marshall Plan Hovers over U.S.

Try to guess who said this and when: “The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is based is in danger of breaking down. The truth of the matter is that Europe’s requirements for the next three or four years of foreign food and other essential products — principally from America — are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political... Read More

Overregulation and Job Creation Can’t Work Together

Several weeks ago, I wrote that as of 2008, small businesses faced an annual regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee, according to an SBA regulatory impact study published two years ago. The Office of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that the annual cost of federal regulations in the United States increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2008. On the heels of this data, I came across a 2009 study from the California State University’s... Read More

Do Something to Send a Message to the Do-Nothing Congress

A Washington Post column recently suggested that “to call this 112th Congress a do-nothing Congress would be an insult — to the real Do-Nothing Congress of 1947-48. That Congress passed 908 laws. To date, this one has passed 106 public laws. Even if they triple that output in the rest of 2012 — not a terribly likely proposition — they will still be in last place going back at least 40 years.” Most people agree that the 112th Congress is the worst Congress in... Read More

Crushing Regulations Kill Job Creation

As of 2008, small businesses faced an annual regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee, according to an SBA regulatory impact study published two years ago. That’s 36 percent higher than the regulatory cost facing large firms (defined as firms with 500 or more employees). And since 2008, the situation has grown worse as the regulation factories in Washington have been working overtime since the Obama Administration has come to town. The Office of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy... Read More

Obama’s War on Coal Claims Its First Victim

I have previously addressed Obama’s war on the coal industry. But now it has claimed its first victim: himself. The United Coal Mine Workers of America, surprising Obama supporters in 2008 by supporting him, are turning their backs on a president and administration that seems committed to putting them out of business. Despite all the warning signs of his anti-domestic energy positions, Obama still received $884,000 from the oil and gas industry during the 2008 campaign, more... Read More

Obama Declares War on Coal and Jobs

If there was a commodity that brings $16 billion to the American economy through exports and directly and indirectly employs around 1.5 million American workers, this would be a commodity that would naturally be supported by everyone. That commodity is coal — which is not supported by at least one group: the Obama administration, which has literally declared war on the American coal industry, and the jobs that come with it. Last week the Obama administration proposed new measures... Read More

Compromised Secrets Compromise Job Creation

Secrets are a trust between individuals and groups. They play a role in security and building sustainable relationships. But when secrets are compromised, trust is the victim. There have been two recent situations where secrets are being compromised — both of which will compromise job creation. The first surrounds the supposed secret deliberations by the Supreme Court over Obamacare. The cost of implementation and compliance with a government controlled healthcare system will... Read More

Congress Finally Gets Around to Job Creation

As if waking from a stupor, Congress is finally willing to tackle job creation. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act introduced by Republicans is a rare occasion of bi-partisan support. It quickly moved through the House and garnered a 390-23 vote for approval with even Congresswomen Maxine Waters voting for it. It eventually passed the Democratic-controlled Senate despite having the Democrat leadership including Senators Harry Reid, Dick Durbin and Mary Landrieu initially... Read More

Manufacturing Needs to be Remanufactured

Nationwide, an estimated 600,000 manufacturing jobs are going unfilled, according to a survey published last year by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute. The survey found 5 percent of current manufacturing jobs are unfilled due to lack of qualified candidates, 67 percent of manufacturers have a moderate to severe shortage of qualified workers, and 56 percent expect the shortage to increase in the next three to five years as older workers retire. Most of these unfilled jobs... Read More

Cherry-Picking the Employment Numbers

The White House trumpeted an unemployment figure of 8.3 percent as great progress. That would be encouraging if it were true. It’s not. The administration selectively chose the data that seemed to indicate a drop in unemployment while ignoring any numbers that would detract from their findings. Interestingly, this is exactly how the first unemployment figures were tabulated in 1878 by Carroll D. Wright, chief of the Massachusetts Bureau of the Statistics of Labor. According... Read More