The editors of the Washington Post urge “U. S. leadership” to boost world economic growth:
The list of measures that could boost growth in the short term is longer than you might think. Corporate tax reform, for example, has already been thoroughly discussed in the House and Senate, with relatively little daylight between the two parties. Several Democrats as well as the overwhelming majority of Republicans support the Keystone XL pipeline. Bipartisan coalitions in the Senate have drafted bills to reform housing finance and reauthorize federal highway programs. Postal reform, too, is teed up. All of these would be consistent with the IMF’s call for structural reform and greater infrastructure investment.
U.S. leadership internationally is also necessary to promote growth. Lest global trade stagnate, and economic reform in Japan stall, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement must be brought to a successful conclusion, aided by congressional approval of fast-track negotiating authority for the president. The Obama administration should keep urging Germany to reduce its trade surplus, which is a major factor inhibiting the growth potential of Europe’s debtor countries. And U.S. engagement can help resolve the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, which the IMF identifies as aggravating factors in the global slowdown.
The ratio of wishful thinking to practical proposals in that list is very high. If you’re a resident of Illinois, you can hardly escape the reality that the Democrats’ present rhetoric relies almost exclusively on class warfare. It’s understandable. Their incumbents can’t run on records of solid accomplishment or reform. The implication is that Democrats can’t vote for anything that would smack of favoring corporations over the poor working stiff without injuring their own reelection bids.
And notice how conspicuously absent the word “China” is from their list. Although the “Trans-Pacific Partnership” is largely an anti-China measure.
The sad reality is that China, Germany, Japan, and South Korea just to name the largest economies in a very long list all need to consume more and export less if our economy or the world’s is to grow. Is U. S. leadership sufficient to accomplish that?
What US leadership?
Wishful thinking describes so much of what passes for policy. I really don’t understand how so many supposedly well-educated elites believe this nonsense.
Where is immigration in that list? Certainly everybody the WaPo knows supports bi-partisan immigration reform, and if they don’t they weren’t worth knowing in the first place.
Andy, what makes you assume they believe it?