There are some simple ways to spur the economy and jobs without costing Uncle Sam a dime, according to the Manhattan Institute's Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor.
In a column for
MarketWatch, Furchtgott-Roth said that for starters, Washington should adjust the obvious inefficiencies in the Affordable Care Act.
"Despite President Obama's promise that health reform would lower the cost of care, the Affordable Care Act is raising costs," she noted.
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"One reason healthcare spending is rising is that people are forced to buy more expensive plans than they need. Why should single men have to buy maternity coverage and pediatric dental care?"
Furchtgott-Roth also called for easing restrictions on natural gas exports. She said the United States "could sell natural gas to Europe and Asia, undercutting Russia's market, at no additional cost to the federal government. On the contrary, increased production means additional tax revenue to federal and state governments."
She believes that reforming the nation's bewildering tax system is a glaringly obvious way to boost the economy.
"Lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate to the Organization for Cooperation and Development average effective rate of 20 percent from the U.S. rate of 35 percent would attract investment from abroad." She also called for allowing companies to expense purchases of capital equipment rather than to depreciate them.
Furchtgoff-Roth also called for sensible immigration reform.
"Almost everyone agrees that Congress should raise the number of H-1B visas that admit skilled foreigners, now 85,000 annually. The 2014 allotment was exhausted in the first week in April. This would encourage innovators to come into the country and create more products, at no cost to Uncle Sam."
Scott Grannis, former chief economist at Western Asset Management, wrote on his "Calafia Beach Pundit" that the economic growth problems in the U.S. are the clear fault of the federal government.
He said the federal government's borrowing of $7.1 trillion, the government restructuring of the entire healthcare industry, the regulatory hobbling of the financial industry and higher taxes have yielded naught.
"Spending wasn't stimulated; job growth didn't surge; healthcare costs continue to rise, the vast majority of the uninsured are still uninsured, and millions are now losing what coverage they used to have; banks are reluctant to lend and consumers are reluctant to borrow; consumer optimism remains relatively weak; and the middle class has taken it on the chin," Grannis wrote.
"If there is a reason for widespread discontent, it is our federal government and its overbearing and intrusive ways," he concluded.
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