Election 2012: The Economy | National Catholic Reporter

Election 2012: The Economy | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Economic policy had everything to do with the boom and bust cycles of the 1990s and 2000s.  Clinton went along with lowering the capital gains tax rate to 20%, which fueled the Internet bubble and the resulting burst, as well as the high revenues that everyone thought would be out beyond the eye could see.  Worker pay stagnation happened because Reagan made the capital gains tax rate too low to start with and Clinton did not increase it by that much.  There is also a substantial relationship between the deficit net of net interest payments and the amount of economic growth the next year.  It is not one to one, but it is not minimal either.  Whether the relationship is a positive correlation or a negative one depends on tax policy (right now, more borrowing means more growth, so that if we under borrow with low tax rates we will have stagnation).  This election is vital.  We need a president who will either keep tax rates the same and borrow heavily or one who will raise taxes, particularly on the rich.  That person must be Barack Obama.