Delaware Gov. Jack Markell had a thoughtful op-ed piece in the Washington Post on Friday.
It dealt head on with one of the myths that has emerged from the recent discussion over the economy. The line of thinking is that if the government simply got out of the way of business, all would be fine. This has been accompanied by a case of amnesia that seems to downplay the financial crisis the nation was facing a short time ago. We only have to take a look at the debt crisis in Ireland to realize the high price of not taking action as well as some of the risks ahead.
Drawing on his experience in the corporate world and is recent visit to Taiwan, Markell makes the point that government and business work together best as partners and not adversaries.
It’s an argument we don’t hear often from Democrats, who have instead focused on regulation and anti-business rhetoric to stir up the base. It isn’t any better on the other side of the aisle, where there seems to be the view that if taxes were simply cut all would be well.
The challenge is to create the right kind of tax, regulatory and financial environment that will allow fast-growing businesses to add jobs. Options have dwindled, thanks to the deficit, the mortgage crisis and many other problems.
In his piece, Markell asks the right questions and one can hope that cooler heads can prevail in a rational discussion of where we can go from here. – Doug Rainey
