Obama should have…
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Focused on economic recovery and job creation rather than remaking the health-care system. —Steven J. Davis • Broken up the large, too-slow-to-lend, too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks. —David Smick • Taken advantage of his popularity and mandate to propose and push for true reform of entitlements. —Jeffrey Miron • Said that the 2009 stimulus was a great first start, was not nearly large enough, and we will almost certainly need more, the day after it passed. —Dean Baker • Started acting unilaterally sooner. —Richard Thaler • More forcefully promoted financial reforms and infrastructure investments, creating a second "New Deal." —Ann Harrison
• Done more for housing. —Peter Diamond • Pushed for another stimulus package. —William Gale • Understood that Republicans would block any further attempts to ensure a robust economic recovery, and pushed for a larger stimulus package in 2009. —Menzie Chinn • Endorsed Simpson-Bowles. —Daron Acemoglu • Pounded the Republicans at every opportunity over their refusal to go along with plans to promote job creation and help the unemployed. —Mark Thoma • Tacked more to the center-right. —Tyler Cowen • Followed President Clinton's example and moved to the political center after a disastrous midterm election. —Richard Burkhauser • Allowed market forces to work instead of following the Bush administration's path of bailouts. —Edwin Burton • Governed more, campaigned less, taken on his left, and struck a deal that was available to him on the deficit. —Irwin Stelzer • Been more courageous on trade policy and on deficit reduction. —Uri Dadush • Lowballed the administration's January 2012 forecast for future unemployment, in order to be able to outperform expectations. —Jeffrey Frankel • Stayed in the Senate. He wasn't ready to be president. —Eugene Fama
My out-of-the-box idea to bring back U.S. jobs is…
Create a G.I. Bill for people whose jobs have been eliminated by globalization. —Daniel Altman • Raise the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour. —James K. Galbraith • Reduce the cost of hiring, separate health care from employment, eliminate the minimum wage. —Mark Calabria •
Shorten workweeks. If we really don't have enough that needs to be done, we can all work shorter hours. — Dean Baker • Encourage the natural gas boom, including rapid construction of a transportation infrastructure for refueling compressed and liquefied natural gas. —Martin Baily • Invest more in education. We need a more skilled workforce. —Richard Thaler • End the tax advantages for outsourcing. —Daron Acemoglu • Increase immigration as a way of reviving the housing sector. —Justin Wolfers • Have the Fed commit to reflationary policies (raising target inflation to 3 to 4 percent) until unemployment is below 6 percent. —Jeffry Frieden • Remove the high-cost regulatory impediments to the IPO market. —David Smick • A zero capital-gains tax rate and significant entitlement cutbacks. —Amity Shlaes • Cut expenditure, cut expenditure, cut expenditure. —Jeffrey Miron • A stable, simple, and transparent tax system. —Steven J. Davis • Solve the eurozone crisis. —Maurice Obstfeld • We don't need an out-of-the-box idea. Good ol' stimulus works in a weak economy. We just need to do it. —William Gale
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