I keep listening to candidates for president make speeches. Right now, there are something like 20 or more "major" candidates. They talk about all sorts of things. Just today, Chris Christie announced that he would tell America "the hard truths" (although he didn't bother to include any of those truths in his speech.) On those occasions when she comes out of hiding, Hillary Clinton talks about things like voter suppression and women's rights. Others like Rand Paul talk about surveillance and quasi-isolationism. Lincoln Chaffee is talking about the need to adopt the metric system. The truth, however, is that almost everything that has been said by nearly every candidate has been either negative criticism or some sort of lamentation. Sometimes, the candidates rise to the level of saying that they will do something to help the American people, but they rarely go on to provide even the tiniest details of what that "something" will be.
It is clearly time for all of these candidates to change their focus. They need to talk about the one issue which is without a doubt the most important one of all. We need to hear from each candidate how he or she would help the American economy to get back to strong growth.
Think about what accelerating economic growth would do for the USA. Here are just a few of the effects of strong economic growth:
1. Strong growth would mean that there would be more jobs created for the American people. Unemployment would be cut and so would underemployment, the situation in which a worker wants to work full time but cannot find that job.
2. Strong growth would increase revenue for the federal government. If the GDP grows by 6%, tax revenues grow by even more than that. All those deficits that were hear about again and again would shrink dramatically if federal revenue were just 5% higher. Just that change would have reduced the deficit from about 500 billion dollars in 2014 to around $300 billion.
3. Faster growth would also raise the incomes of the America middle class. The extra jobs created and the need for longer hours would mean higher wages for workers. It would also mean higher profits for companies and, therefore, higher levels of investment. That, in turn, would mean still higher growth, etc.
4. All those people with new jobs and higher incomes mean that spending on government assistance programs could be cut. There's no need to pay unemployment compensation to somebody who gets a new job. There's no need to give food stamps to a family whose income has now risen substantially. As spending is cut, it again means that the federal deficit is further reduced. Indeed, two or three years of strong growth could bring us to the point where the deficit is erased.
5. Strong growth also increases the ability of the USA to defend itself. All those fancy weapon systems cost money. If America needs to use cruise missiles against ISIS, for example, it is better if we have the resources to replace those cruise missiles easily.
6. Strong growth also means that America will be more respected by other countries. Think of all those people around the world who will watch the success of the USA and want to emulate us. Sure, some will be jealous, but the good will outweigh the bad.
These are just some of the benefits from strong economic growth. The fact is that nothing does more to benefit America in the long run than a sustained increase in growth.
I strongly believe that a candidate that explains the need for growth, that tells Americans the good news that strong growth will bring and that sets forth a competent plan to achieve that growth will have great success in the elections. As of now, only Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina have managed to do this to any extent. Scott Walker has started on this road too, but he still has a long way to go. As for the rest of the candidates, they are just talking without having much to say.
It is clearly time for all of these candidates to change their focus. They need to talk about the one issue which is without a doubt the most important one of all. We need to hear from each candidate how he or she would help the American economy to get back to strong growth.
Think about what accelerating economic growth would do for the USA. Here are just a few of the effects of strong economic growth:
1. Strong growth would mean that there would be more jobs created for the American people. Unemployment would be cut and so would underemployment, the situation in which a worker wants to work full time but cannot find that job.
2. Strong growth would increase revenue for the federal government. If the GDP grows by 6%, tax revenues grow by even more than that. All those deficits that were hear about again and again would shrink dramatically if federal revenue were just 5% higher. Just that change would have reduced the deficit from about 500 billion dollars in 2014 to around $300 billion.
3. Faster growth would also raise the incomes of the America middle class. The extra jobs created and the need for longer hours would mean higher wages for workers. It would also mean higher profits for companies and, therefore, higher levels of investment. That, in turn, would mean still higher growth, etc.
4. All those people with new jobs and higher incomes mean that spending on government assistance programs could be cut. There's no need to pay unemployment compensation to somebody who gets a new job. There's no need to give food stamps to a family whose income has now risen substantially. As spending is cut, it again means that the federal deficit is further reduced. Indeed, two or three years of strong growth could bring us to the point where the deficit is erased.
5. Strong growth also increases the ability of the USA to defend itself. All those fancy weapon systems cost money. If America needs to use cruise missiles against ISIS, for example, it is better if we have the resources to replace those cruise missiles easily.
6. Strong growth also means that America will be more respected by other countries. Think of all those people around the world who will watch the success of the USA and want to emulate us. Sure, some will be jealous, but the good will outweigh the bad.
These are just some of the benefits from strong economic growth. The fact is that nothing does more to benefit America in the long run than a sustained increase in growth.
I strongly believe that a candidate that explains the need for growth, that tells Americans the good news that strong growth will bring and that sets forth a competent plan to achieve that growth will have great success in the elections. As of now, only Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina have managed to do this to any extent. Scott Walker has started on this road too, but he still has a long way to go. As for the rest of the candidates, they are just talking without having much to say.
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