To the editor:
If you have watched the President bashing Mitt Romney’s track record at Bain Capital, you may have arrived at the some conclusion that I have…. namely, that the President does not have a clue about how the economy works!
If you (think) you already have the answer to the nation’s problems stop here!
If you read this to the end, you will have a better understanding of economics than the President of the United States. Guaranteed!
Let’s start on page one of economics “101”:
“Economic growth and prosperity is archived by getting the most product and services (GNP) with the least amount of capital and labor”
I know you knew that, but this was only a reminder!
Well, the President’s shortcut to prosperity is to hire more public employees.
Sorry, that will not create economic growth. All that does is switch money from one pocket to another.
Take teachers, as an example! Since 1970, we have doubled the number of teachers in our classrooms, while student enrollment has gone up only 8.5 percent. During those 40 years the quality of our educational system has dropped to a level that we are now at the bottom half, compared with other nations. Pretty embarrassing, if I may say so!
What would benefit generations to come is if the President would support a policy of getting rid of the layers of inefficient teachers, who are clogging our educational system. Unfortunately, that is not on his agenda!
You may have heard of the young teacher, who was voted “Teacher of the Year” in Wisconsin, and subsequently laid off, because she lacked seniority. Go figure!
The economic rule of “getting more for less” also applies to product we import from other countries, like for example China.
Let me give you an example of this!
Take a household, which spends $3,000 annually on clothing. If we were to make this clothing here in the U.S., the cost would triple to $9,000. In other words, by having the clothing made where the cost is the lowest (China) this household is saving $6,000 a year, which they can spend on something else, like a child’s education (not so bad), or they can spend the savings at the neighborhood restaurant, which would also be good for the economy.
Let’s take this a step further!
If we were to make in the United States everything we buy from overseas, the average disposable income for an American family will be reduced by something like 30 percent. Simply because they will be paying more for the same quantity of goods, and have less left for other things like a car, an iPhone, the mortgage payment, and a trip to the movies.
Wow! I will bet that you never thought about outsourcing in those terms. But outsourcing kills U.S. jobs; I can hear my liberal friends saying!
Not really! There is no difference between outsourcing and replacing a horse with a tractor.
Take agriculture, as an example! At the beginning of the last century, 80 percent of the U.S. population was employed in the agricultural sector. That percentage is now down to less than two percent. In other words, over that period of time, we have put people in other and more productive jobs.
The economy will take care of itself if we can only get government out of the way.
If you are really compassionate and want to create jobs, here is a suggestion for you! Drive your cars for 25 years, and you will have created a full time job for an auto mechanic.
Does that make any sense? No, it does not!
Don’t get me wrong! I think Obama is a great guy, he is incredibly charismatic, he has a wonderful family, and I am glad that we were able to show the world that we could put a black person into the White House. But…his economic policies do not stand up to closer scrutiny!
Karsten Malmos
