Small firms say regulation is fastest-growing concern
It’s been exactly three and a half years since Barack Obama was inaugurated, and here are two things that folks on the left have been saying about the economy every day since then: It’s Bush’s fault, and the problem is a lack of aggregate demand.
Here’s what small businesses have to say about the situation:
Chart by Dan Clifton at Strategas Research, via the AEIdeas blog
Keeping in mind that these are what small firms are “most concerned” about, meaning many likely have concerns to varying degrees about all three, a few things jump out at me:
1. In 2005, these three concerns accounted for a little more than one-third of small firms’ biggest worries. Today, they combine for about 60 percent. That suggests to me that these firms have less time and energy to devote to specific concerns about growing their business.
2. After shooting to the top in the second half of 2008, concerns about sales plateaued for about two years. Those concerns have been falling pretty steadily for the past year and a half.
3. Concerns about regulation, which more or less mirrored those about sales from 2005 to the start of 2008, began a steady ascent in 2009 and have almost doubled since then.
4. Concerns about taxes have remained fairly steady over these years.
5. At the beginning of 2009, the sum of concerns about regulation and those about sales was in the neighborhood of 40 percent — pretty much the same as today. But the division between them is starkly different: Whereas there were three small firms concerned about sales for every one worried about regulation then, now the two are dead even. In other words, worries about sales have been gradually replaced by worries about regulation.
6. If current trend lines continue, both taxes and regulation will soon rank higher among small firms’ concerns than sales.
Even if one wants to credit Obama’s “stimulus” package with the decrease in worries about sales — totally ignoring the effects of the Federal Reserve’s ultra-loose monetary policy — this graph clearly shows why improved demand hasn’t shifted the economy out of neutral: Increased regulation has stifled the recovery we might have had.
Small firms are generally credited with the bulk of job creation in this country. So the question this information puts to voters is: Which candidate do you expect to do more about the most pressing problems faced by small firms — Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
– By Kyle Wingfield
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575 comments Add your comment
Bruno
July 21st, 2012
7:34 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVLZiDlTXGc&feature=related
JDW
July 21st, 2012
8:00 pm
@dusty…”Where did you get your degree in Pomposity”
Didnt need a degree…only thing I need is myopic folks like you and Tiberius to unleash the beast.
Wildanter
July 21st, 2012
9:34 pm
There is PLENTY if not more State and local regulation, enacted these last few years by republican lawmakers that are just as much as a hinderance. Don’t raise taxes, but raise as many fees and put up as much red tape as possible. Same thing as far as I am concerned.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 21st, 2012
10:18 pm
Don’t mind JDW, Dusty.
He just hates being shown up as being wrong in public.
RW-(the original)
July 21st, 2012
10:42 pm
The title track from Yellow Brick Road was just fine. It was Benny and the Jets that sucked…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In my little corner of heaven, where we could outvote and dictate to Hillbilly D if we wanted, most everybody I run into is against the upcoming tsplost, but yesterday I ran across an outcropping of signs in support. Those folks had the cutesy green “untie Atlanta” signs everywhere so I suppose they were just citizens concerned about traffic. I’m sure the fact that they are also one of the country’s largest concrete concerns had nothing to do with it.
Bruno
July 22nd, 2012
1:45 am
It was Benny and the Jets that sucked…
Well, probably not a big “Benny” fan either, RW……..
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
7:20 am
With the high cost of oil, the outrageous price of health care and the fact that wall street and the banks have made off with people’s life savings….It appears that no one has been doing any regulating.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 22nd, 2012
7:39 am
Spoken like a true liberal, jezel.
With a complete and total disregard of the facts.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
8:08 am
@Tiberius…”He just hates being shown up as being wrong in public.”
The next time you accomplish that feat will be you first.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
8:09 am
Your..iPad typo
Skip
July 22nd, 2012
8:11 am
I don’t think facts mean what you think they mean.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
8:52 am
@skip…”I don’t think facts mean what you think they mean.”
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
10:11 am
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 21st, 2012
10:18 pm
He just hates being shown up as being wrong in public
Perhaps brucie shouldn’t show-up in public Tiberius.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
10:18 am
You got to love this pathetic line of defense that not supporting obumer and not going out on a spending spree just to make the economy good for obumer’s re-election is UNPATRIOTIC!
Yeah, right… Is that the way things worked for all those on the socialist left when Bush was President?
CDC
July 22nd, 2012
10:24 am
This country is now at the point where regulation barely exists… but as long as someone gets their money no matter what they do it’s all OK. The new American way! Have no respect for the nation… just your own wallet.
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
10:26 am
Gee Tiberius…thought I was Republican…a real one with an understanding of the role of government as explained in the Federalist Papers.
The facts are: oil companies are oligopolies who conspire to set prices rather than allow the laws of supply and demand to dictate the cost. Medical cost are out of reach of many Americans because there is limited competition. And we all know competition brings prices down and improves quality. It is also a fact that my 401k is not doing very well at all. Our banking system is on the ropes from lack regulations…not from being over regulated.
So we throw the word liberal and conservative around like that can explain our countries predicament. Wish it was that easy.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
10:35 am
Truth is Kyle, when you have so many regulations that not one area of your economy or of your life itself for that matter that isn’t regulated in some shape, form or fashion by the government then it should be obvious to any sane liberty loving mind that we have too many regulations, not too few.
It is time to peel back the layers of government overreach and find what works and what doesn’t, keep what we really need and get rid of what we can do better without. Of course, after the Supreme Court ruling on obumercare, which gave the federal government unlimited powers to regulate everything, it is going to be nearly impossible for this government to exercise regulatory prudence with that much unbridled power.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
10:41 am
And we all know competition brings prices down and improves quality
Let me know when you find that kind of competition inside this country but please don’t say where you found it very loudly because some corporation will have their lobbyist on the phone to Congress for another regulation to kill that kind COMPETITION.
Monopolies are unquestionably bad, any regulation that permits one to exist is the only thing worse.
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
10:43 am
With all the smart people writing comments. Would like to pose a question? Just what is the role of government?
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
10:57 am
Just what is the role of government?
Which level federal, state or local if you want details?
But as a rule of thumb the Declaration of Independence made it very clear why governments were instituted(their role): To protect our rights, among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
bibleman
July 22nd, 2012
11:38 am
DJIA down 25% from Bush 2’s inauguration to Obama’s inauguration. DJIA up 60%. I think it’s pretty easy to see who has been better for business.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
11:54 am
I kind of like what former obumer supporter Steve Wynn of Las Vegas fame had to say when someone point out to him and of his criticism of obumer’s anti-business attitude how that he [Wynn] actually made money under obumer.
To which Mr. Wynn replied in this manner… “I would have made a great deal more money if he [obumer] had not been President!
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
12:17 pm
Thank you Michael for answering. This is the fundamental question we need to discuss in this country today. And we should demand that our politicians address this issue.
As i understand it….when man entered a “social contract” to submit to the rules of government..it was understood that government’s role was to do only for us what we as individuals could not do for ourselves. Build roads, schools, maintain a national defense, coin money, establish liberty and justice for all….and maintain an economic climate where the laws of supply and demand can operate.
It would be great to see the political and economic issues of today debated in that context.
Any law or regulation that crossed this boundary made it an illegitimate government.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 22nd, 2012
12:25 pm
“Just what is the role of government?”
Bottom-line, to protect people from those who would take your life, liberty or property through the use of force or fraud.
That’s it.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 22nd, 2012
1:04 pm
bibleman, the stock market might show you how a select few companies are doing as regards their performance based on profits, revenues and meting expectations of same, but it hasn’t been an indicators of the health of the American economy for over 30 years.
In short, your point would have had the same validity if you had said that it was rainy when Bush left office, and sunny when Obama took office, so Obama has been better for the weather.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
1:09 pm
Contrary to some opinions expressed here the role of government is not static or defined. That was clearly set forth in the Declaration of Indepedence…
“-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”
The role of government is a function of the governed and whatever they think is best at the time.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 22nd, 2012
1:16 pm
“The role of government is a function of the governed and whatever they think is best at the time.”
Not even remotely true, JDW, as the Declaration of Independence was NOT a document which described the role of government (not that English is your strong suit, anyway). It did describe, however, the perils of government and the role of MAN when government became unjust. In short, it was, and remains, nothing but a Declaration of Independence.
If your above statement were true, there would be no need for a U.S. Constitution, yet the Founding Fathers decided we needed one of those to keep your statement from becoming true. What you describe is a democracy, which the Founding Fathers particularly loathed. In fact, the origin of the word “democrat” is “one who panders to the masses”.
Epic fail again, JDW.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
1:33 pm
@Tiberius…talk to Jefferson…you putz
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
July 22nd, 2012
1:35 pm
Your inability to refute is acknowledged, JDW.
MarkV
July 22nd, 2012
2:06 pm
jezel @ 12:17 pm
“As i understand it….when man entered a “social contract” to submit to the rules of government..it was understood that government’s role was to do only for us what we as individuals could not do for ourselves.”
That may be your understanding, but that does not make it a fact.The critical issue is not what inidividuals “could not do,” but what those who are governed decide their government should do as a better aternative to individual efforts.
As matter of fact, some conservatives on this blog, including Kyle, go even further than you, suggesting that even building of roads is not the proper role of the government.
Kyle, 1:00 pm July 16, 2012: “And it has become routine for Obama to harp on the roads and bridges as if that’s necessarily something the federal government must or should be involved in.”
JDW @1:09 pm
”The role of government is a function of the governed and whatever they think is best at the time.”
Not remotely, but absolutely correct. To argue that it would mean democracy as a system of government and make the constitution unnecessary is so ridiculous that it is hard to take it seriously.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
2:31 pm
@markv…not sure exactly where you were heading…the role of government is a function of the governed’s wishes at a point in time. In the US those wishes, in their current form is expressed in the body of law and regulations, subject to the current interpretation of the boundries of the Constitution. Which of course can be changed by the governed as desired at any point in time.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
2:37 pm
@Tiberius…”Your inability to refute is acknowledged”
My only inability is to make the blind, such as yourself see.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
2:40 pm
@markv…got it…forgot to to take the blather of Tiberius into context.
MarkV
July 22nd, 2012
2:57 pm
JDW @ 2:31 pm
I have agreed with you. A constitution is a set of fundamental principles for governing an organization, in this case the USA. Since it contains the means by which it can be changed (amended), those governed absolutely can, by this process, decide what is the role of government according to what they think is best at the time, as you have written.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
July 22nd, 2012
3:07 pm
The Declaration of Independence doesn’t even address the US Government, most likely because there wasn’t one when it was written.
Wrong again, dummycrats.
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
3:20 pm
MarkV…If you disagree with the statement … that the role of the government is to do for us what we as individuals cannot do for ourselves, Why would we want a government to do for us what we CAN do for ourselves? Once we go down that path we are opening our society up to having others think for us, decide moral issues and generally run our lives. It leads to totalitarian regimes.
That form of government has been called a dictatorship, communism and a monarchy.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:21 pm
Yeah I believe you brucie wilcox, those old coots Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Jay etc. did not have a clue about what the role government should be when Jefferson wrote down the words of the Declaration. Neither did Madison or Jay when they wrote the federalist papers.
By the way the Constitution codified everything the Declaration spelled out before the we became a nation.
Government’s role is to protect our rights, not your’s and socialist MarkV’s wishes, personal thought or wants.
md
July 22nd, 2012
3:23 pm
We can’t even pass a budget, and folks here are talking about passing amendments……what we “can” do as a people and what we “can” do are two totally different concepts………….
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:24 pm
MarkV…the role of the government is to do for us what we as individuals cannot do for ourselves,
IS NON SENSE!
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:35 pm
when man entered a “social contract” to submit to the rules of government
How unfortunate for these socialists that our forefathers never enter into a contract with a government. Then again they never had to bargain or reach some agreement, since first, they were the creators of this nation and its government and therefore granted to that government its’ rights and powers; as well, they put into place a Constitution that would keep that same government from ever abusing or taking their rights and or property without due process under the laws that they would make, as just powers are derived from the hand of the governed.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
3:36 pm
@jezel…”that the role of the government is to do for us what we as individuals cannot do for ourselves,”
That is a line of thought that was put forth in American history by Thomas Jefferson as a discription of what he thought government should do. I happen to think it is a good yardstick, but as mark points out the “governed decide what their government should do as a better aternative to individual efforts”
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
3:37 pm
For example, creating an equitable health care market is beyond the purview of an individual and fair game for government.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:39 pm
We can’t even pass a budget
Had Senator Hatch been able to get one more vote most likely we would have a budget and a balanced one at that in the same way state governments do.
Then again thanks to old Woodrow Big Gub’ment Wilson what we have is a debt ceiling that can be raised and has it ever from that day unto this one.
JDW
July 22nd, 2012
3:41 pm
Lincoln said it like this…”The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but can not do at all, or can not so well do, for themselves–in their separate, and individual”
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:42 pm
For example, creating an equitable health care market is beyond the purview of an individual and fair game for government.
Mostly because of government regulations.
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
3:44 pm
Mike….If you read the Federalist Papers…that statement is the summation and the foundation upon which our constitution was written and sold the the public. What other legitimate role can a democratic government have? Had this approach to limited government never been formulated, the states would not have ratified the constitution and we would not have a United States.
At that time in history, Americans were opposed to government in general. Afraid that the new country would see a repeat of the extreme abuse of power that existed in European countries.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:47 pm
Government is to do for us, what we cannot do for ourselves?
Where is that line of thinking in the Declaration or in the Constitution?
Might sound good as a movie script for Hollywood but it isn’t codified.
md
July 22nd, 2012
3:53 pm
A simple example of how gov’t oversteps it’s bounds can be found in the simple act of garbage collection. Folks around Atlanta for the most part do not have this problem, as it is left up to the individual to dispose of his/her garbage as they see fit. Yet all around the country, local gov’ts mandate that taxes will pay for the service………….
There are many more such instances and it seems to be getting worse as folks don’t much put up the fight any more.
In the not too distant future, our benevolent gov’t will have taxed all that is bad for us until only doing what they see as “right” will remain…….
Don’t think so? Just ask the guy that smoked his cigarette on the way to the tanning salon. For many that don’t smoke or use tanning beds, this won’t much matter and they won’t much care………only when it is their vice that is affected will it begin to matter…………….
jezel
July 22nd, 2012
3:54 pm
It is found through out the constitution…..that was the purpose of each article and particularly the reason for the Bill of Rights. To limit the powers and spell them out.
Michael H. Smith
July 22nd, 2012
3:55 pm
.If you read the Federalist Papers…that statement is the summation and the foundation upon which our constitution was written and sold the the public.
If you mean government doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves then have you got a number for that particular paper because I don’t think you are right on that claim?
I know full well the whys of our government and I am 100% on the money about the role of government and it protecting our rights and NOT REGULATING out of existence as some clever way to get around the Constitution. Then we really don’t need much of anything else from our government that we cannot do for ourselves.