Arkady
President
Unlike a lot of Obama supporters, I'll admit that this economic recovery had been weaker than was necessary, even in light of the absolute mess Bush left. I do, of course, let Obama off the hook for 2009, because I think there was almost nothing he could have done to stop the hemorrhaging faster than he did, given the nature of the crisis (it wasn't a standard business-cycle contraction, like most modern recessions, it was a financial meltdown, like the recession that caused the Great Depression, and like some of the economy-obliterating panics of the 1800s). 2009 was a lost cause, even with the best of policies. But, I believe it was possible to have us restored to robust economic growth and normal job creation before now, and so I fault Obama for not having done so. I'll grant he had very limited options after the Republicans took over Congress and dedicated themselves completely to gridlock. But there are things Obama could have done in '09 and '10 that would have had us much farther along the recovery road today.
If people are interested, I'm happy to provide my thoughts, in detail, about what he could have done differently. But that's not the point of this post. Instead, I'm curious what the conservatives, who are his fiercest critics, think he should have done differently.
Should he have pushed through even more tax cuts than he already did? If so, wouldn't that have resulted in even bigger deficits? And, given the fact that the corporations and the rich are already sitting on piles of money they don't care to invest, due to poor demand growth, how would handing them even more cash have helped? Moreover, doesn't the fact that we had some of the lowest taxes in our modern history, for the eight sub-par economic years leading up to the economic catastrophe, give you pause about the economic efficacy of that method?
The other frequent go-to policy for Republicans is deregulation, but that one's also hard to understand in the current context. We just suffered an economic collapse triggered by the "shadow banking system" -- a system of unregulated and under-regulated financial relationships, using exotic instruments that multiplied and spread economic risk throughout the global system. At best, pushing through more deregulation is like telling an alcoholic to take another drink to calm his hangover.
So, what else should Obama have done, from the conservative perspective?
If people are interested, I'm happy to provide my thoughts, in detail, about what he could have done differently. But that's not the point of this post. Instead, I'm curious what the conservatives, who are his fiercest critics, think he should have done differently.
Should he have pushed through even more tax cuts than he already did? If so, wouldn't that have resulted in even bigger deficits? And, given the fact that the corporations and the rich are already sitting on piles of money they don't care to invest, due to poor demand growth, how would handing them even more cash have helped? Moreover, doesn't the fact that we had some of the lowest taxes in our modern history, for the eight sub-par economic years leading up to the economic catastrophe, give you pause about the economic efficacy of that method?
The other frequent go-to policy for Republicans is deregulation, but that one's also hard to understand in the current context. We just suffered an economic collapse triggered by the "shadow banking system" -- a system of unregulated and under-regulated financial relationships, using exotic instruments that multiplied and spread economic risk throughout the global system. At best, pushing through more deregulation is like telling an alcoholic to take another drink to calm his hangover.
So, what else should Obama have done, from the conservative perspective?
