... is a speedy global recovery. Recently the Wall Street Journal asked the CEOs of Amex, Westpac, and Marriott, and Sen. John McCain, what the global economy needs to rebound. Here's what they said. The panel had five top recommendations, including, in the Journal's words: (1) "[P]olicies that stimulate sustainable job growth by identifying national competitive strengths, encouraging innovation, reforming tax policy and avoiding regulatory disincentives." (2) "Encourage entrepreneurship. Be blunt about U.S. competitive strengths and weaknesses. Remove the risk of protectionism. Reduce uncertainty. Don't demonize success or overpenalize failure." (3) "Reduce uncertainty for consumers and businesses over energy, tax, health and other policies to encourage hiring and capital investment." (4) "Sign and ratify by the end of 2010 a global free-trade agreement with all willing countries to encourage greater world growth." (5) "Change tax code, in revenue-neutral fashion, to encourage savings and investment and discourage consumption and debt over the long term." Judging by these criteria, the Obama administration is 0 for 5 (so far!). Exit quote, from McCain:
Every day, I encounter somebody who is a small-business person who not only can't get a line of credit but they're losing a line of credit. Now, you may say that you're trying to get credit to small business; you may say you're trying to help small business. I'm telling you, they don't believe that. They don't believe that at all. ... I have never seen anything like it. And all I can tell you is that unless something changes pretty quick, you will see an election in 2010, the likes of which we have not seen probably since 1982 or 1994, when there were bigger changes. And this will be bigger than that. So my urgent plea to you is, think of the small-business person who is the engine of the economy, who creates jobs in America, who is literally unable to get a line of credit anywhere.
As David Smick said in a recent speech, the TARP may have been great for the banks' balance sheets, but it hasn't spurred the lending necessary to drive enterprise and job creation. And a jobs summit won't make matters any better.