Wall Street: GOP Antics Tanking Economy

First, the good news:

A Federal Reserve report on economic conditions released Wednesday offered a cautiously optimistic outlook. Consumer spending is up, car sales continue to be strong, business spending and payrolls are rising, manufacturing activity is growing, the travel and tourism sector has expanded in most areas, and residential construction is continuing to increase at a moderate pace.”

But you likely knew that. And, you likely knew that the great bugaboo of growth, in the eyes of Wall Street, is the dreaded ‘uncertainty’.

Which is nonsense.

While it’s understandable that business leaders covet certainty — whatever that is — a globalized, dynamic economy built of human inputs will never, by definition, deliver that certainty. It’s an unreachable grail. And frankly, anyone who goes into business relying on certainty shouldn’t be in business. Period.

That said: what’s sabotaging that fantasy, present-day? It’s not regulation. It’s not taxes. It’s not even the lingering economic malaise, borne of the crash a half-decade ago.

No, it’s the juvenile brinksmanship of the GOP:

“The reason our economy can’t kick into higher gear is because of the uncertainty in [D.C]. Even if you like the changes, the process itself creates angst,” Zandi argued. “The predominant uncertainty is this brinkmanship [over the debt limit]. We need for Washington to get out of the way.”

Incorrect. What we need, demonstrably, is a functional Washington.

By: rhb

Rob is a NYC-based Internet entrepreneur. He's also a businessman and job creator (wait: doesn't demand create jobs?) who understands the sense, and the eventual predominance, of the progressive agenda.