From the US Chamber: How to emerge from the recession

President Obama has proven that we can't spend our way out of a recession. Keynsians like to point out that Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed us out of the Great Depression, but they neglect to mention that our economy dovetailed in 1937 and that it was the Second World War which finally ended the worst economic downturn in our history.

Writing for the US Chamber of Commerce, Marty Regalia, its chief economist, lists just some of the ways to emerge from this 21st century nightmare:

Businesses have always dealt with uncertainty. Their very existence is based on their ability to manage risk. The current situation is different because when the parameters of uncertainty are constantly changing it is impossible to manage risk. In a game of chance like craps, no one knows what number will come up but the parameters, the odds, are known and people engage in the activity every day. The current situation is akin to a game of chance where the odds are constantly changing. When risk cannot be managed, businesses simply refuse to play.

If our elected leaders and policymakers are serious about getting the economy growing and creating jobs, they must restore the parameters of the playing field.

In the short-run, we should pass the implementing bills for the free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. These trade agreements would create tens of thousands of jobs for American workers, farmers, and businesses–both large and small–all across the nation.

We need to corral the vast, overreaching regulatory system that boasts 170,000 rules that acts like a millstone around the neck of the economy. We need to make common sense reforms to the system, including accurate cost-benefit analysis and sound science, restore Congressional accountability by requiring Congress to approve rules that have a significant economic impact, and streamline the permitting process, shorten review times and end frivolous lawsuits.

The Chamber's Sean Hackbarth adds some more ideas.

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