President Obama has just committed himself, through an Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, to an executive order that
"... requires federal agencies ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth. And it orders a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. It's a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades."
Of course, as an economics instructor, I am always pleased when the government reviews its regulatory watch for the betterment of the economy. But I do wonder if this "jobless recovery" can just be changed to a recovery with less oversight. How long would it take to change the regulatory system? Can it be done quickly and efficiently so we can get 15 million people that are willing and able to work back to work? The President gave a poignant example of two agencies working somewhat against each other.
"For instance, the FDA has long considered saccharin, the artificial sweetener, safe for people to consume. Yet for years, the EPA made companies treat saccharin like other dangerous chemicals. Well, if it goes in your coffee, it is not hazardous waste. The EPA wisely eliminated this rule last month.".
That makes sense...I think. Is saccharin bad for me? If it is, maybe they should just ban it. Luckily, I like my coffee black. Of course, I wonder, if costs and benefits are being considered and then I read this quote:
"As the executive order I am signing makes clear, we are seeking more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve the same ends—giving careful consideration to benefits and costs"
How exciting is that?
President Obama continues to write that the future of regulation will mean more power to the consumer, less paperwork, decreased burdens on small businesses, one standard for car fuel efficiency instead of 50, and FDA rules for medical devices to list a few. All of this sounds great but I am still wondering will we ever actually do it?
To wrap this long blog up the President continues to talk that loveable econ talk.
"Yet according to current estimates of their economic impact, the benefits of these regulations exceed their costs by billions of dollars (consumer surplus?)."
As I read the article I was inspired to cheer for self regulation of big government then I realized--that doesn't make sense!
The President ends the story with this quote "We can make our economy stronger and more competitive, while meeting our fundamental responsibilities to one another."
I sure hope so and SOON! By the way, the President's move to the center of the political spectrum has moved his approval back into the majority (click here).
To me, this s a smart idea, and I believe that it will be successful. As long as president Obama is considering the costs and benefits when trying to better our economy, I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Alex "The BOSS" Phillips
I believe by eliminating outdated regulations we will be promoting economic growth. The benefits will weigh out the costs, because we will be working with each other not against. Although we need to be wise about the regulations we eliminate, because they were put their for a reason. We don't want to be harmed, in order to promote more economic growth.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this article, I think that it would be good for the economy if this happened and there would be many benefits to this as well if obama did it.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe this is going to work because I do not believe our government can actually work as a whole they can barely agree on anything now, why would they agree on anything later?
ReplyDeleteI think that changing the regulatory system will be a change that won't be that difficult to make, but what will take time is adapting to it. The 15 million people who are jobless won't go back to work instantly, it'll take a very long time to get the economy back to where it ws before the recession. I think it will work but it will take a very long time.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ideas presented in Obama's piece however I am more interested to see how he will execute them. The examples he gives seems to say that this policy will benefit these people by promoting this and that. Specifics would help me form an opinion on whether Obama's order is a good or bad idea.
ReplyDeleteThis article is good stuff. I agree with this intelligent idea
ReplyDeleteI think that finding new ways to do things more effiecntly is a good thing, but it will probably come to a cost. Most likely to us. We would have to pay more for these services which means that we will get more in debt. I think what Obama is trying to do is a good thing trying to better our economy but it will defiantly come at a price, to us. And I think that they should look at how it effects us.
ReplyDeleteAs far as economics go, Obama's statements are a little to vague to be considered anything very solid but the ideas behind them are good. In all truth, the President has moved close tot he center then the left by appealing to the Republican vote, but the tension of Obamacare and the job crisis still linger.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama is becoming more moderate and less liberal because he wants his approval rating to go back up and because he needs the moderate vote to get re-elected. I think that the government should stop with the deficit spending and really re-allocate and re-evaluate our country's economic state.
ReplyDeleteGo Packers!
I agree that making the government more efficient is better for the consumers as it reduces costs and increase benefits, but how will the President implement these changes. While Obama has moved more towards the middle with the republicans controlling the house, it will still be difficult to pass all of his agenda.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good idea and i would like to see it followed through. It would have great benefits to cover the costs, its just a matter of anything actually getting done as the article said. I'm glad to see Obama promoting this regulation in favor of the consumer.
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't think the president really knows what he's talking about. It seems like a smart idea but at the same time I feel like it wont have the results he's looking for. Economics involves predicting based on assumptions; what if an assumption goes wrong? I think he needs a back up plan, or he needs to think through it more thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting to see something we're learning in school actually applies to real life and is addressed by the President of the United States, especially after having to evaluate integrals for weeks now. This also proves to me that Obama knows what he's talking about and I'm glad to see he's weighing the costs with the benefits, trying to make our government as efficient as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think all the stuff he's saying sounds good and if all of that happens then it will be very beneficial to us and the economy but I doubt that it will actually happen soon. They've been saying that jobs are going to be be created for a while now but it hasn't really happened for a lot of people. The ideas are there but I don't know if the plan on how to make them work is.
ReplyDeleteWe should let labor markets fix themselves without much regulation. Based on the past, letting markets fix themselves does work, but the amount of time to do so is unknown.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good plan for our economy, however, who knows how long it is going to take. Ithink eventually this plan is going to work, we just don't know when our government will work with each other and settle on an agreement.
ReplyDeleteI think the government should be as efficient as possible so this is a good change
ReplyDeleteI think that as long as President Obama thinks about both the costs and benefits, this could work. He needs to be able to even then out evenly.
ReplyDeleteOh, main thing that I can support in his statements is that the government is trying to close gaps between the federal regulatory agencies that have been unintentionally undermining each other for some time now.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this could be a good idea if executed correctly. It will take a lot of time to get everything back to normal and I wonder if the plan will be stuck to. If we can work together and not quit, this could really have a huge impact.
ReplyDeleteWhile many of Obama's ideas seem promising, none can be taken really seriously until actual plans are put into effect. With the opposition of parties in Washington, it will be very difficult to do this unless Obama devises plans that appeal to the republicans.
ReplyDeleteI think having one fuel economy for cars will decrease the cost of some cars with high mpg. It will make cars more competitive because they have to think of something else to advertise. I am glad the government is trying to regulate things to make it better for the people.
ReplyDeleteI think that some of the ideas obama presents will work and some won't.it is good that he is trying to regulate the economy. I think that he have to work hard to achieve these goals.
ReplyDeleteI think that a major reason for the publishment of this is that Obama wants to stop the house from repealing the healthcare bill. Therefore, he wants to gain the support or at least the mild understanding of the republican representatives. Since many businesses and individuals already started to transition to the new guidelines, the repeal might verr well cost more than keeping it.
ReplyDeleteGetting to the better efficient economy is very good ofcourse , hopefully its gonna happen. I also wish more people would get emplyed.
ReplyDeleteGiving more Power to consumer-awesome!
Obama's ideas will definitely help the country if they actually pass through the government. As more small businesses are failing and people are buying less, it is a good idea to give less burdens for small businesses and more power to consumers.
ReplyDeleteThis new change will help simplify some laws and regulations which may speed up some regulatory processes in the end, but I think this will take awhile to complete, so things may stay the same until then.
ReplyDeleteit sounds like a good idea, but how is Obama going to do this???? and obviously we want the benefit to exceed the cost.....
ReplyDeletealso, i do agree that we need to work together to be more competitive which is quite ironic. when consumers have the most power, firms will have to be price takers. this means we will be a purely competitive market which is gooooood.
While Obama has come up with some good ideas, we will need to wait and see how he will go about putting these ideas into play. Regulating the economy will make it much more efficient, it's just going to take a while to achieve. It may take longer than all of the unemployed want it to.
ReplyDeleteChanging the regulating system seems like a very good idea. I think it has great potential to work but we have to accommodate for the social adaptation that will occur. People don't like change and there will be a spike of retailiation for a while but eventually it should settle down and work the way it's saposed to, but is it worth the wait?
ReplyDeleteI think when an economy is not doing well, new ideas will usually benefit because it can't get much worse. The benefits will outweigh the cost if we do this correctly. It's good that Obama really is concerned about the economy and because of taking this class I actually have an understanding Of it now.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a good idea, but I'm nit sure if it will actually work. He talks about creating jobs, but it all seemed very vague to me. While Obama seems to be thinking like an economist and using marginal analysis to determine his course of action, I'm not convinced that a larger government can effectively regulate itself.
ReplyDeleteFixing the regulatory industry will definitely help the economy. Some of the ridiculous steps businesses have to go through burden them, and slow down hiring. The benefits of deregulation will outweigh the costs. For President Obama, the benefit of this statement (his higher approval rating) outweighed the the cost, as the 2012 election approaches. However, it will be interesting to see if these plans are executed, or simply ignored.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me like Obama doesn't really know what he's talking about, and trying to sound like he knows what hes talking about. I'm sure he's advisors know what he's talking about tho, but he's just repeating what they said without him knowing what it means. But I doubt regulating industries will reallyhelp. I say they should just be left to fix themselves.
ReplyDeleteEveryone can talk the talk. George H.W. Bush promised no new taxes, but guess what America got during his term? Go ahead and execute your plan, Mr. President. It's always good to reduce x-inefficiency in such an expensive and corrupt bureaucracy, and with our debt reaching ludicrously unacceptable numbers, we need to cut spending somehow. It's time someone kept his promise in Washington. I just hope that partisan bickering and corporate lobbying don't dash it all away.
ReplyDeleteOf course everything the president is saying sounds good at first but Obama is, first and foremost, a politician meaning that saying the things people want to hear is what he does best. If the president is really using a cost-benefit analysis to fix our economy, then there is a very good chance we'll recover quicker, but again he could just be saying what we, the people, and economists want to hear. I'm not saying Obama is liar or a deceiver but he needs to make people believe in him now and he might just be trying to getbpoints without actually following through on any of his promises
ReplyDeleteI think that this plan in theory is a wonderful idea for our country. It's nice to know that our president is talking in terms that the next generation of the work force (or maybe just Econ students) can understand. I also think his move to the middle of the spectrum is helping his economic plans and ideas to become more and more popular and appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI think this idea is to good to be true. In reality the government will probably not be able to work together to allow this to work. I think we should allow the labor market to adjust it self because although we would not no how long it takes it has worked in the past.
ReplyDeleteSome of obamas ideas will work and benefit the country while others will not. For these ideas to benefit though, the government needs to be efficient.
ReplyDeleteI think eliminating outdated regulations will eventually help the economy in the long run by trying to employ the 15 million jobless people, but it won't happen immediately as we are hoping. The real question is what actions is Obama going to take in order to promote this economic growth efficiently? Of course we want the economic benefits to exceed the costs, but we also can't forget about the spillover costs and benefits of changing our strategies. Go pack go :)
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the president getting more involved on the economic perspective on topics. He should follow through his ideas and make some changes in our government.
ReplyDeleteI think the majority of Obamas ideals are good and the will be sucessful. By getting rid of the out of date regulations and becoming more competitive will eventually lead to the benefit exceeding the cost.
ReplyDeleteIf this plan is well thought out and executed correctly, I think this can affect the economy as a whole in a very positive way. Giving more power to the consumers always seems like a good idea... if it works.
ReplyDeleteGO PACK GO!!!!!!
I believe that president Obama is all talk. He has said all of these great things, but we don't see any of them in action. I think that while what Obama is saying seems beneficial to society, I don't think that these ideas are realistic. He is too vague and does not mention the specifics that need to done in order fir everyone to work together. While this plan seems ideal, I dint think it is realistically going to happen
ReplyDeleteI believe that we should let the markets fix themselves with very little regulation but will Obama actually follow through on this. I dont really see this happening in the future. If he does follow through than I think it could work.
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ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea and that obsma's plans seem great, but just like you I'm not so sure that this will actually ever happen. I do like the die though of giving more power and options to the consumers, so hopefully in the near future it works out.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we changing our regulations? Because obviously they aren't working... If our government officials say that new regulations can put 15 million people back to work, then why not do it? If the benefits greatly exceed the costs, why not do it? I feel that this is something that our government should definitely do, especially if they believe that it will give consumers pmore power and benefit the economy.
ReplyDeleteAll of this seems obvious, it's necessary because what's the point of making rules that overlap rules? It's been how it is for a while now and nothing is gonna change unless there is a government committee specifically made to delete laws that make no sense and overlap. Which they're not doing. So all of this is a lot of talk.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea to make the government more economically efficient. However, his words and the actual actions are completely different. It's nice for him to say he will do all this but it will take a long time in order for it to be accomplished. A lot needs to occur before jobs will be created.
ReplyDeleteEconomics is all about being the most efficienct and producing at the highest difference between cost and benefit and I think Obama's new train of thought puts this into perspective, so it's a good idea.
ReplyDeleteObama sounds like any other politician that says we don't have to compromise, we can just win both ways, but in a realistic world that's impossible. If there is a winner, there has to be a loser to make that winner, and if consumer surplus is in the billions, some large businesses and firms are being screwed hard with government regulation. It's seems like it's too good to b e true because it is too good and something about this policy is going to fall through and leave thousands of people pissed.
ReplyDeleteAllowing markets to fix themselves sounds like a great idea since we know from experience that competitive markets can efficiently regulate themselves, though I think this won't be as easy to do as President Obama makes it sound. I'd like this movement toward pro-consumer regulation begin before we get too excited about it.
ReplyDeleteI like Obama's new plan on attempting to elimate some of the government regulations. In my opinion, the more government does to help the people will merely let more people ride on the shoulders of the higher powers. By taking away some of the government regulations, I believe we as a whole will be able to help ourselves rather than depend on government help.
ReplyDelete"This is the lesson of our history: Our economy is not a zero-sum game. Regulations do have costs; often, as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary." This is the final paragraph of Obama's article and in it he proves perhaps the most important part of his economic decisions. He realizes that everything has a cost (economic and accounting cost) and that there is never a perfect decision, we have to choose what we hope to be the best path. The best Obama can do is attempt to set the country on the right path, and I believe that what he is proposing will be able to do this, let us wait and see what comes out after it goes through the rest of our government.
ReplyDeleteThis plan sounds very appealing. It sounds like the president is finally taking affirmative action. Hopefully his plan will be one of the more influential actions during his presidency.
ReplyDeleteI think making the economy more competitive would be a step in the right direction, but it could take a while. It would be nice to see some of the change we keep hearing about start to take place. MB > MC
ReplyDeleteYes obama does promise great things, but my question is whether or not he will deliver? If Obama being president truly does result in decreased burdens on small businesses and less regulatory paperwork I will be amazed. But until I see results I see it is as more empty promises from a political party that does not support deregulation.
ReplyDeleteGetting our government to work together will be difficult but if president Obama can really make this plan happen it would be very beneficial. Changing regulations for the better of society while creating jobs and making our economy stronger is something that America needs right now.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what should be done to help the economy recover. But these steps are extremely hard to take and may not yield any positive results for a long time. Changing an economy will take a long amount of time and might not even be able to change the entire economy to be more competitive.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama's plan will actually go through then this would no doubt be extremely beneficial for the economy, especially since the consumers would be given more power. Also this would hopefully provide the 15 million who are unemployed with jobs in the near future. The only question is when all of these benefits will influence society and take place.
ReplyDeleteI think that of his plan works it would be great for our economy but cutting the deficit and spending more are complete opposites so he probably will only decrease the deficit a little bit (which is better than nothing) even of he increases and cuts certain areas of spending.
ReplyDeleteSure, as Obama moves to the middle of the spectrum and his approval rating moves back up things look promising. However, this might not be the case. Until things actually start to turn around and Democrats and Republicans really work together to get things past them we can believe in this bipartisan relationship.
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