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Romney's True Economic Doctrine

Posted at 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2012

Paul Krugman tries to get at the “true economic doctrine Romney and his inner circle have in mind.”

“The official line has been that the five-point program will create scads of jobs. This has a couple of problems. First, the program is vacuous — for the most part it’s a statement of desired outcomes, not policies. Second…the studies claimed as justification for the 12-million jobs number actually don’t say at all what the campaign asserts.”

“The answer is actually pretty clear: CONFIDENCE. The Romney notion is that we’d be having a rip-roaring recovery right now, except that Job Creators feel that Obama is looking at them funny. And so all Romney has to do is show up, and happy times will be here again. No, seriously: in Boca Raton Romney declared that simply by being elected he could start a boom, ‘without actually doing anything’… The true plan is to provide an economic stimulus in the form of Romney’s awesome awesomeness; the cover story is the pretense of having an actual program.”

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  • elizh

    I have been meaning to ask the business owners I know which forms of uncertainty affect them.

    - obamacare? no… most of these businesses are too small. Or in MA. However, health care industry still has plenty of uncertainty – and prefer Obama.
    - Fed policy? (note Fed independence.)
    - fiscal cliff? seems to be a biggie. Does electing Romney unite House Republicans? What about the Senate?
    - income tax? (see fiscal cliff)

    Additionally my spouse’s ceo is a big proponent of the JOBS act.

    My conclusion is that Romney cannot resolve most of these forms of uncertainty. Can he unite the Cantors and the Boehners?

    • elizh

      OK, just spoke with one business owner. I have previously heard him say that he would limit his number of employees to keep below the Romneycare limit for the employer mandate. He didn’t immediately identify the uncertainty issue, then said “oh it’s about the economy.” Went on to say that he is running a good business in a down market (has also said that in prev down markets) and that his real uncertainty comes from his manufacturing in Pakistan and China. He brought high end manufacturing back to MA from China over the last couple of years. He doesn’t see Romney proposing anything specific to help the economy, unless possibly this tax-cutting idea is specific. He didn’t seem to think it would affect his business. I did not have a chance to delve into the banking and loans, or actual effects of tax cuts. Also says that some ideas proposed by Romney turn out to have been already executed by Obama.

      • elizh

        Also said… as a general rule, yes, a Republican government would tend to less regulation and hence easier business, but that greed and deregulation are also what led to our current mess.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Rob-Weinhold/100000195358122 Rob Weinhold

    I’m no expert, but it seems as if a bit of the “uncertainty” and slow job growth revolves around the premise that many industries have just changed. There is a focus on costs that business hasn’t really seen before. It is easier to control operating costs than it is to control revenues. Lowering costs = more profit. Unfortunately, hiring more employees costs money and I believe many businesses are content to cruise along, make a profit, and avoid big risks like expanding or mass hiring.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-Ramsey/100001577804530 Don Ramsey

    Since the 12 million jobs are reasonably considered to be created in the next four years with the status quo maintained, it seems to me that Romney has taken a reasonable stance. If he remains vague and illusive about his position, when the inevitable happens he can say he planned it all along.

    • Hawkeye

      Meaning that if only Romney would continue Obama’s current national policies like he seems to have said about Obama’s foreign policies in the third debate, things will just work out fine?

      Simply re-elect Obama and then be assured he will continue current policies.

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