Posted on 09/10/2012 7:19:24 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney's plan to create 12 million jobs in his first term as president is being criticized as hyperbole, political fantasy, and pie-in-the-sky.
But is it? History can help answer the question. But, as has been brought home to us during the presidential campaign, history can be read in different ways.
Romney critics can rightly point out that the only times in the postwar era when the U.S. economy generated a net increase of 12 million or more jobs in a period of four consecutive years were during the Ford-Carter years and the Clinton years. From 1976-1979 jobs increased by 12.9 million and from 1997-2000 they rose by 12.1 million.
At first blush, such robust four-year job growth indeed seems like a rare event - happening only twice in over six decades - tough to repeat.
But is that the way to look at it?
Over the long run the economy, including the working-age population and employment, has trended upward. It's called growth.
The level of payroll jobs today is three times higher than in the early postwar years, two-thirds higher than in the mid-1970s, and about 10 percent higher than in the mid-1990s. Therefore, with a larger base, the same rate of employment growth yields a larger number of jobs today than in the past. Thus, it takes a smaller employment growth rate today to generate 12 million jobs than it did in the past. A growing giant takes bigger steps.
Take the most recent period of high job growth, the mid-1990s, in years when the average annual rate of increase was 2.6 percent. Over a four year period that would boost the number of jobs by over 10 percent. Applying that percentage to today's level of jobs yields an annual increase in payroll employment of 3.4 million jobs a year or 13.6 million over a four year period. That's 1.6 million more than Romney's 12 million. .
To meet his 12 million job goal in the next four years, Romney needs an average annual increase in jobs of 2.2 percent. Since 1948 there have been six times when jobs have risen at that rate or higher over a four year period or longer: 1950-1953, 1962-1969, 1971-1974, 1976-1979, 1984-1989, and 1994-2000.
Clearly, the fulfillment of Mitt Romney's pledge would not require an unrealistic rate of employment growth.
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Look how the economy took off after they got rid of FDR’s crappy policies.
Stupid move for Mitt to put a number on it.
First of all, government doesn’t create jobs, they can get out of the way, which will help private companies to create jobs.
Also, the government doesn’t control how many jobs are created, that’s up to the employers.
In essence, Mitt basically said that he would just be a more effective liberal.
the media is saying we are already on course for this...even though we are not. we are not growing and jobs are not increasing close to that pace. If we actually ever have a recovery, this goal is very achievable. Currently, we are not recovering.
Where did he say that GOVERNMENT was creating those jobs?
Why would he give a number if he didn’t think government was doing it?
It is doable. I think a conversion to Natural Gas from oil could be just the shot in the arm this nation needs. We’d need a ton of infrastructure - new natural gas stations, new engines, and everything that goes along with them would put new income into the economy. Everyone involved in NG would have more money to spend and things would start picking up all over. I think it could all be done by private industry, but if the government took the lead and put the mail trucks and the military in Natural Gas vehicles, that would go a long way toward spurring on the private sector.
It all hinges on that. It took the death of FDR and his anti-business pro-entitlement regime to get us out of the Depression.
What...are we stupid?? After the Revolutionary war...America wanted to start producing goods for their own use rather than import...
It's how we became great...It's called a work ethics.
What a talented nation we are...
Yes, it really is....
Growth in America has been constrained, and choked off by government regulations, taxes, etc. Remember, Romney made a damn good living trying to save companies, like GS Steel, that were run over by Democrat job-killing legislation.
If you do the following things:
Roll back EVERY non-legislative EPA regulation since 1984 by executive order.
Roll back every OSHA order since 1984 that doesn’t DIRECTLY effect worker safety in the workplace.
Allow drilling and mining, EVERYWHERE. Drill here, drill now, drill Gaia like a drunken prom date.
Roll back the Corporate Income Tax on Manufacturing in the U.S. to 5%.
Cap Civil Environmental/product liability at 20 years.
The Democrats, the environazi’s, the Radical Socialists and their allies in the media are going to scream BLOODY MURDER.
But that what it is going to take.
Sure it is! If he can get us drilling for our own resources it will be a boom. People working in the energy industry make good wages. In turn, this will cause the housing industry to take off. Money will be spent in the towns where we tap into energy. What we need is a gold old fashioned energy boom to kick start this economy.
There is more, of course. I’ve seen Industry after Industry destroyed by government.
50,000 mostly UNION workers made LIGHTBULBS until 2009. Government killed that.
Small airlines used to serve small cities across America, with smaller aircraft. Clinton’s “Airline Safety Reform” killed that, along with the factories that buil the planes, thousands of jobs lost.
Kill the blended fuels regulation. That alone will cut gas prices 10-20%.
Thousands upon thousands of jobs have been destroyed by GOVERNMENT in the last 40 years. There is example, after example, after example of this.
YES< WE CAN DO IT!
Jobs are a by-product of economic growth. He should set a target for that, not jobs.
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