The Absurd Report

After crunching the numbers, the Heritage Foundation found the economy actually lost fewer jobs — 48 million — during the first six months of this recession than during the milder downturn in 2001, when 50 million were shed.

So why is unemployment so much higher now? A dearth of job creation. Through the first two quarters of 2009, the economy created just 40 million jobs vs. the 47 million it created two quarters into the 2001 recession. Now, eight months into a recovery, the economy still isn’t adding positions. In fact, it has lost an additional 1.1 million jobs — including 36,000 last month — despite a rebound in gross domestic product growth.

A huge share of the unemployed has been out of work for more than a year. Minorities have been hit hardest, with the jobless rate for young black men climbing to a record high.

What’s the deal? No entrepreneurial incentives — namely, across-the-board cuts in marginal tax rates, which fueled hiring in last decade’s recovery as well as the one in the 1980s. Worse, President Obama plans to raise taxes on the entrepreneurial class.

Studies show cuts in individual tax rates encourage new business startups, the catalyst for job creation. And there’s nothing now to incentivize existing small businesses to create jobs.

Read more from IBD Editorials

No Comments »

Trackback URI | Comments RSS