…and it will Continue to Be With Big Government Helping Us!

Brent Martin has a report on Missourinet entitled “Report finds economic recovery slow.” Brent did an excellent job of capturing and communicating what is happening with the business environment and the non-recovery we are experiencing. He hit on some very key issues and provided good background for those issues.

He makes note of the report that the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research), the economic powers that be in Washington, declared the recession to be over in June 2009. (Recession ended in June 2009: NBER)

The Missourinet report says:

An index created by the Philadelphia Fed indicates Missouri took a hard hit in January of 2008. Though the recession is officially over, recovery has been painfully slow. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank economist Howard Wall says that while uncertainty about the future has held business back, certainty about rising costs has played a role as well.

If we set aside the fact that most Missourians, and their fellow citizens across the country, don’t believe the recession is over because nobody told them or their checkbooks, this should be positive news. And perhaps it is. But so far there is no positive recovery to go along with it.

Mr. Wall’s quote in the forgoing paragraph encapsulates part of the problem. Businesses, large and small, are very reluctant to let go of any cash that might result in expanding production or workforce. The primary reason I have heard by businesses all across Missouri is that they are concerned about the ever increasing government regulations under the guise of “economic recovery,” “health care reform” and other big government programs. What they see is a lot of regulation, lots of added costs to their businesses, but no recovery!

Mr. Wall is seeing and hearing the same thing I am from businesses:

“One of the things people are very certain about is that taxes are going to be higher, health care costs are going to be higher, financial regulations are going to be more costly for them,” Wall tells the Missourinet. “So, they’re certain about the sign that everything’s going. They’re not really sure exactly how all of that is going to be implemented precisely and what they’re going to end up having to do.”

It is not government’s job to “stimulate” the economy. Certainly not by borrowing money we don’t have and then spending on programs that don’t work.

It is government’s job to create an environment in which businesses can prosper, creating more goods and services, hiring more people and creating more income for all involved, including the government! Government forgets that they are not job creators but job stealers. They forget that they are not the economic engines, the golden goose but rather the fox in the hen house stealing the eggs.

Unfortunately, Mr. Wall doesn’t have much good news for us:

Wall doesn’t expect an economic rebound any time soon. “You know, I don’t know, it could be slightly faster, slightly slower, but it’s going to be a long haul for everyone, including us,” Wall says.

One sure fire way to make sure it’s “slightly faster,” actually much faster, is to get government out of “job creation,” reduce government spending, restructure tax codes (Proposition A – Let Voters Decide and Missouri Jobs and Prosperity Act) and let businesses flourish through real competition.

The Bible says the we should not muzzle the ox. That’s exactly what current government policies do, muzzle businesses so they can’t function. It’s time we muzzled government!