By Bruce Reed
Earlier this week the New Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) released a 2nd Report on Job Growth laying out a strategy to prime the nations job pump by doubling exports and restoring fiscal discipline. In Sell More Borrow Less: A Long-Term Strategy for Economic & Job Growth DLC Trade and Global Markets Director Ed Gresser and DLC Counselor Paul Weinstein Jr. offer a series of recommendations to turn the nation in a new direction.
In their new study Gresser and Weinstein find that the Great Recession has driven Americans to raise family savings from $200 billion to $500 billion per year. In the long term they argue that is a healthy step. But for the immediate future it means diminished consumption is hampering efforts to drive up demand.
Moreover their analysis reveals that the governments burgeoning debt load is heightening the risk that the nations job creators -- innovators and small businesses -- will not have access to the capital they need to grow.
In turn to expand the nations job market American businesses need to drive up sales in foreign markets and Washington needs quickly to return to a path toward fiscal responsibility.
To get there Gresser and Weinstein make several specific recommendations:
- Ratify the Remaining Proposed Free Trade Agreements and Focus on Larger Markets: The nations trade agenda has too frequently been paralyzed by disagreements over relatively small agreements. Washington should ratify the three agreements currently in limbo -- with Korea Panama and Colombia -- and then move on to wider ranging challenges.
- Conclude the WTOs Doha Round by Lowering Barriers for Americas Growth Industries: The American trade agenda should be focused on expanding the access American growth industries -- including information technology and media health and medical technology and clean energy -- have to large markets like the European Union Canada Mexico China Japan Brazil and India.
- Put a Lid on Federal Spending: The Obama administrations plan to
freeze certain domestic discretionary spending the presidents recent creation of a bipartisan fiscal commission and the recent enactment of PAYGO legislation represent the best first steps in restoring confidence that Washington can live within its means.
- Eliminate Waste by Granting the White House Reform Authority: Too frequently Washington establishes a program designed to solve a discreet problem and then fails to dissolve the accompanying bureaucracy after its mission has been achieved. By our estimates taxpayers could save as much as $100 billion a year if Congress granted reform authority to the president to reorganize and eliminate programs.
In combination with the study we released earlier this month
Where Jobs Come From the DLC is working to build a policy agenda that will restore the pace of job growth that marked the Clinton era.
