Monday, November 14, 2011

Why President Romney Will Disappoint Talk Radio

We all know that the Talk Radio cabal has risen against Romney. There is also a significant portion of the grassroots that just doesn't trust Romney.

They shouldn't.

Let's observe a few facts.

Fact 1. Mitt Romney says that regulations are costing Americans jobs.

Fact 2. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they are not. Diminishing demand is a much bigger problem. Executives cite imposing regulations only 0.3% of the time when they lay workers off, while lack of demand gets cited 25% of the time.

Fact 3. Mitt Romney is a man who looks at data. There was a WaPo article last week that quoted a Romney aide saying that Romney will look at data to determine whether he will compete in Iowa. He will not pay attention to the cheers of his supporters at events in Iowa. Romney just doesn't make gut decisions.

So how to square these? Luckily for us, Romney has assembled an all-star cast of economic advisers who from time to time drop hints. Now keep in mind, Glenn Hubbard has to keep in line with the right talking points, but every now and then it slips out. Read this interview that Hubbard did with Ezra Klein. Tax cuts? Yes. Cut government regulations? Yes.

But the real meat and potatoes is Hubbard's support for mass refinancing of home mortgages, targeted infrastructure investments (aka spending), and high education and research funding. Those are the kinds of things that you do if you read the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Don't get me wrong. Romney will probably deregulate. But I am sure he doesn't really believe that it will produce a full economic recovery. Instead he will do what is necessary to fire up the economic engine.

And Rush will probably not be happy about it.

------- Update-------
I should add that those positions are conservative. Romney should want to cut the corporate tax, which is the highest in the world. And he should deregulate when necessary. However, Romney's focus is going to be on a completely different area that where talk radio's focus is. Romney will see a demand problem, while Rush and Fox News will see a regulation problem.

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2 comments:

Machtyn said...

Pablo, you state:
Fact 1. Mitt Romney says that regulations are causing Americans jobs.

Did you mean instead to state:
Fact 1. Mitt Romney says that regulations are costing Americans jobs.

Pablo said...

Machtyn,

Thanks for noticing that. You are correct.