Let The Economy Fix Itself

When we talk about the economy, and whether or not we are experiencing a recovery, it garners a range of responses. But if you follow the business media, you’ll notice that corporate profits are increasing. Companies are amassing cash and yet, the unemployment rate is still increasing. Evidently, these same companies, already used to doing more with less, are still not hiring. The Washington Post stated the recession refuses to go away. Why could that be? I'm not sure but the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed our Great Recession is over. Hmm. Tell that to people still out of work.


Today, businesses replace equipment and inventory, but they are not hiring new workers. Advanced technology is the only investment companies are making. What can they accomplish by doing this you might wonder? They can replace more people and free them up to work on other projects. Typically, that would be considered progress. That is if new projects are being undertaken. But they’re not.


Increasing production and reinvesting in our businesses is what will help our economy recovery. The economy can fix itself if government would simply stop interfering with it and superficially co-opting it through phony stimulus packages. Last year’s trillion-dollar dose of government help infused into the coffers of companies too big to fail just wasn't enough. If we want a quick indicator as to what or when the economy is working, watch the retail sector. Retail demand is the most obvious barometer of how well the economy or confidence in it actually is.


Most business owners prefer tax cuts and a lessening of unreasonable regulations to help the businesses. While I agree with their opinion, there must be concurrent spending cuts or we’ll not accomplish a true stimulus and the deficit will just get worse. I had a colleague today ask me, “Okay, I agree with cuts. But now tell me what you’re going to cut and how is it going to impact me? What do I have to lose?” I explained that just the waste in budgets is a good place to start and the abuse in our social services sector would be the next waste-ridden place to go after. Then there’s the Wick’s Law mandates that are costing government projects one-third more in costs and regulations. One example in the Town of Greenburgh is a fifty-foot section of sidewalk that is being put in for a cost of $238,000. Wow!


Our economy is not recovering, unemployment nationally/NY is stuck around 18/10 percent respectively and if we just got government out of the way, left the economy alone, it would correct itself. In short order, the clouds would part, angels would sing and businesses would start spending their profits, reinvesting in themselves, taking on new projects and most importantly for New Yorkers, begin hiring again. But that’s not happening. The economy is not being left alone. The rules from the top are unintelligible and unpredictable. When New Yorkers, as employees, are potential threats because of Labor Department regulations, businesses have little confidence to hire. Our governor and more importantly, our legislature have mirrored the actions of our President and saddled our entrepreneurs and businesses with a larger burden via taxes and regulations. They are now being forced to carry the big companies that we deemed to big to fail. So, what are we doing for them?


Three arenas: health insurance, financial regulation and impending new taxes have taken the wind out of any economic “sail” that had any chance of working. The 2,300 page Dodd-Frank finance regulatory act contains 243 new formal rule-makings by eleven various federal agencies. Social Security and Medicare are teetering precariously. There’s talk of a value-added tax in addition to all of our other taxes. C’mon! All of this only increases a businesses vulnerability to government. It freezes business in a place that forces them to become a bigger and bigger loser the longer they stay in New York. Government should get out of the way or they will have the opposite affect on the economy, stimulating a gray or underground economy. And what then of jobs? What then of taxes and revenue? In short, investors face a regime of uncertainty to an extent that few have experienced in this country. Uncertainty, created by Obama's legislative "successes", perpetuated by Albany, can only be compared to the Depression and World War II. We are quickly about to surpass Greece's economic failures. It must change!


I need your vote on November 2nd. Help me change Westchester and ultimately improve New York. It’s time to make New York the Empire State again. Let’s Invent Tomorrow!

Thomas Bock is the endorsed candidate of the Republican and Conservative parties for the 92nd Assembly District seat. He can be reached at info@Bock2010. Visit his website at www.Bock2010.com or his blog at www.electtombock.blogspot.com. You can contribute to his campaign by sending a check or money order to Elect Tom Bock, PO Box 1098, 405 Tarrytown Road, White Plains, NY 10607.