John Stossel writes in his column about the role of uncertainty and fear over what’s coming next from D.C. in thwarting the creation of private-sector jobs.
In at least three big areas — health insurance, financial regulation and taxes — no one can know what will happen.
New intrusive rules for health insurance are yet to be written, and those rules will affect hiring, since most health insurance is provided by employers.
Thanks to the new 2,300 page Dodd-Frank finance regulatory act, The Wall Street Journal reports, there will be “no fewer than 243 new formal rule-makings by 11 different federal agencies.” These as-yet unknown rules will govern lending to business and other key financial activity.
The George W. Bush tax cuts might be allowed to expire. But maybe not. Social Security and Medicare are dangerously shaky. Will Congress raise the payroll tax? A “distinguished” deficit commission is meeting. What will it do? Recommend a value-added tax?
Who knows? But few employers will commit to a big investment with those clouds hanging over our heads.
“As much as I might want to hire new salespeople, engineers and marketing staff in an effort to grow, I would be increasing my company’s vulnerability to government,” Michael Fleischer, president of Bogen Communications Inc., wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
What a shame for North Carolina, where the unemployment rate — now at 9.8 percent — has exceeded the national average since February 2008.
In this interview, Steve Forbes, chairman and CEO of Forbes Media, outlines ideas for helping the American economy revive from its slump, including changes to destructive government policies. Forbes offered these comments in a one-on-one interview with CarolinaJournal.tv before a presentation to a Heritage Foundation audience July 21, 2010, in Durham.
