Its fourth down, the only thing between the end zone and the football is 15 yards and eleven defensive players. The ball is snapped and the QB drops back. The inside receiver cuts across the middle, his cleats tearing into the painted end zone. With only seconds left, the QB releases the ball in between two defenders. The wide receiver jumps into the air reaching out his fingertips, but no…. the ball is thrown too high. Game Over. The analysts begin discussing the game that had only ended seconds ago and immediately critique the QB. “He should have planted his feet better.” “He’s been throwing high all game.” “The QB has to take the full blame on that loss.” Full blame? What about the dropped passes earlier in the game? What about the opposing teams excellent defense? Or the home team’s inability to stop the run? Is it really all the QB’s fault? Would there be this much critiquing if the receiver had made the catch? It seems the QB gets too much credit when his team wins, and too much blame when his team loses. There are so many factors and so many past plays that dictate the outcome of a single game, but it’s always easy to place a larger amount of blame on the figurehead. The Quarterback.

In politics, our quarterback is the President of the United States, and our game that is constantly analyzed is the economy. Now I don’t know if we have been overthrowing passes or simply dropping passes, but the general consent seems to be that we are losing the game. But is it solely the fault of our Quarterback, our President, that we aren’t advancing many yards? Are there some other factors on hand that could contribute to our current predicament? First off, what are the problems? The first word that comes to people’s minds is jobs.

So why isn’t the President creating all these jobs we are hoping for? Shouldn’t this be an easy five-yard pass? Well that depends on whether we are attempting to add public or private sector jobs. Public sector jobs would require additional government spending which in turn should, although probably wouldn’t, be funded by additional tax revenue or tax increases. Well that’s out the window, so I guess we need focus on creating private sector jobs. Ok, so maybe not an easy five-yard pass, but definitely a wide open 10 yarder. It would be nice if our president used his board of director power in the major U.S companies and make them hire private sector employees. Wait, you’re telling me that our President isn’t on the board of directors of any U.S firm? Nor does he have the power to force any company to hire; he can simply give these companies incentives? So what’s the deal? Wouldn’t U.S companies want to use their record amount of cash on books to help the American unemployed? Oh wait, that’s right, I’m thinking of charity. I always get that and capitalism confused. Capitalism is focused on boosting shareholder profits, which derives from efficient production and low costs. Last time I checked an American worker costs quite a bit more than a Malaysian worker, or an Indian worker. Ok, so maybe this wide-open 10-yard pass, we call job creation, actually has a couple of defensive backs in the way. At least the President can do something about these oil prices right?

Every single day one of the most actively traded commodities in the world is oil. You would think commodity prices should be dictated based solely on supply and demand. Unfortunately, in our ever so complicating world of currency and futures trading, oil prices fluctuate on many other factors. Obviously supply and demand are still important factors, but not the only relevant parts to the equation. Future contracts put into account the expectations of future supply and demand, which results in speculation. If we all believe the price of oil is going up, money will flood into the commodity itself, and prices will rise. Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Couldn’t the President just “Drill Baby Drill”? Sure of course he could, but couldn’t OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), enact a policy of “Drill less Baby Drill less”. Thereby, decreasing their production to maintain similar high prices and using less of their natural resource. Believe me, regardless of where the commodity is being drilled from; it trades on the same exchange. Maybe this incomplete pass prompts some credit to the defense in the name of the Oil Cartel. Still with all the these factors, its easy to blame our figurehead, our Quarterback.

As long as we keep innovating, as long as we, America, are creating the future we will remain on top. This is where our Quarterback, our President needs to be at the top of his game. Then again, to continue innovating and creating a better quality future, we don’t to listen to the quarterback, but the coaches, or our teachers. Our education and our teachers are the single most important resource we have for the future. While we Americans think we are the smartest players on the field, there is no question that we are falling behind many other countries in the skills of math and science. People know more information about celebrities and reality television stars than they do about their politicians, scientists and brilliant engineers. Not that these individuals are as entertaining as these characters on reality shows. Believe me, I’ve seen MTV; however, many of these unknowns are the people we should look up to, strive to be like. Our President cannot make every player on the team learn his/her plays. He cannot motivate everyone to strive to be their best in the classroom and challenge themselves beyond simple grade point averages. That takes the efforts of the coaches and teachers and the willingness of the students on the field. Quit blaming the quarterback when you weren’t even expecting the ball to be thrown your way.

It’s fourth down, and the home team is losing. All the players and home team crowd stare down at the Quarterback. After all, he is the one who threw the interception in the first quarter. He’s the one who touches the ball on every play. Is he not completely at fault for the fact the home team is losing? Maybe as a team we are losing sight of all the factors at play? Maybe we have underestimated our competition? Maybe we don’t fully understand the game? The economy is a global machine and in my opinion a quite efficient machine. The worlds businesses don’t hire employees to be nice, and investors don’t speculate with oil future contracts to save a few bucks at the gas pump. This efficient machine works so well because it allocates capital to earn the maximum profitability. Sometimes this leaves the home team in a difficult situation in regards to job creation, and costs on commodities such as oil. So in order for the home team to stay competitive in this game, it’s not up to just the Quarterback to throw the winning touchdown pass. It’s up to the CEO’s and the board of directors to believe in hiring American workers for productivity and efficiency sake. It’s up to our scientists and innovators to find new ways to fuel the future and get out from under the completely legal cartel by the name of OPEC. Most importantly, it’s up to the coaches, our teachers and especially our students to continue challenging each other to rise above mediocrity. Blaming the Quarterback is simple, and so that’s what we do. However, our economic problems are complicated. One man isn’t going to win this game for us. And certainly one man didn’t result in us losing it. After all, I always thought this was a team sport.