Man with a Plan

With the economy stumbling along I've been surprised to see presidential polls as close as they are. It seems many people think we will see slow growth or no growth at all for the foreseeable future regardless of who is president. I'm not sure I've ever seen the atmosphere quite so gloomy. It doesn't have to be that way. Presidents matter. They can put policies in place and advance legislation that do indeed promote or retard prosperity.

It's been a rough four years. We've had a serious recession and an anemic recovery. Gasoline prices are up, home values are down, people are walking away from mortgages. Cities are declaring bankruptcy and laying off even firemen and teachers. Heaven knows where they will find work. Poverty rates have risen, federal deficits are astronomical, and the president wants to raise taxes as a matter of fairness. Most people seem to think it's a good idea, so long as it's somebody else's taxes. Since about half of voters don't pay any income tax it's easier to make that case. It's no wonder people are down but we need to snap out of it.

One thing that would help is a better educated work force. We've got the finest university system in the world but costs have gotten out of control. Too many graduates are getting degrees that aren't worth what they owe on them. That can be fixed if we insist. We should be taking hard looks at technology and asking questions about everything from administration to tenure. There are promising trends in primary and secondary schools with vouchers and charter schools. We can encourage new ideas, accelerate implementation of the ones that work, and tell the obstructionist public school lobby to get out of the way. 

Advances in extractive technology have produced an oil and gas boom. That can stimulate a broad economic revival it we don't strangle it with regulations. Much of the most promising reserves are on federal lands and to date pretty much off limits. They need to be opened up. So called environmentalists will object but they would have us dismantle the industrial revolution. We should clean up our energy sources as best we reasonably can but we will be dependent on fossil fuels for at least the next several decades. We need that oil and gas.

Other technological advances seem to have prompted something of a domestic manufacturing revival. It's high tech manufacturing that discounts lower wages in emerging economies and makes shipping cost and delay bigger factors. These manufacturers are having trouble finding the skilled labor they need. Work force development programs could address that. Community colleges and charter schools have had some some success here. We should be building on it.

One of the bright spots recently has been trade. Exports are up. Our biggest trade partners are Canada and Mexico, though you wouldn't know it from all the NAFTA bashing. Economists say NAFTA can be improved. We've had enough experience with it to know what's worked well and what hasn't. A well integrated North American Economy benefits us all. Let's take a fresh look at that. While we are at it let's do what we can to help Mexico deal with those awful drug cartels before the violence spills over the border, if it hasn't already. And for Pete's sake let's stop supplying the drug lords with guns.

There are lot's of things we can do, and some of them are low hanging fruit. In my view they are especially to be found in education, technology, trade, and energy. There are those who will stop them all if they are allowed to. What we need most is a man with a plan.