The Rice Young Democrats and Rice Conservative Forum participate in a March 22 discussion on U.S. jobs and job creation.
Last week at the Baker Institute, a panel of eight Rice University students — four from the Rice Young Democrats and four from the Rice Conservative Forum — debated how the job market has been impacted by President Barack Obama’s policies. The debate, moderated by Baker Institute Student Forum president Lauren Baba, covered the clash over the appropriate role of the federal government in stimulating the economy and creating jobs.
According to Yale economist Lisa Kahn, graduating students entering the labor market during a severe economic downturn can expect, on average, to earn 20 percent less during their first year than those who looked for jobs during a normal economy and $100,000 less over the first 18 years of their careers. While the economy is now recovering, this severe recession will leave a lasting mark on the life chances of young workers who struggle to reach the first rung of the employment ladder. Considering the long-term implications of finding employment, both teams of debaters prepared well-researched cases in favor of and against Obama’s economic policies.
The Rice Conservative Forum marshaled a rigorous defense of the resolution, asserting that expansion of the government (e.g., constrictive regulation, taxes that support redundant or unnecessary federal programs) destroys wealth, thus reducing aggregate demand, directly hurting the job market. They concluded that although the expansion of the government may put some people to work now, those nonproductive jobs will destroy wealth, making tomorrow’s job market even bleaker. As evidence, the Conservative Forum cited Gallup numbers showing little to no improvement in indicators such as unemployment despite strong economic recovery, with 40 percent of the population unable to find appropriate jobs, i.e., they are unemployed, part-time or underemployed.
The Conservative Forum particularly attacked health care reforms, the stimulus and the creep of regulation (illegalization of manufacturing incandescent lightbulbs, limits on showerhead flow rates) as examples of over-reaching government that is hurting the job market. In addition, they noted that Obama came into office with more political capital than any other president in recent history and should be held responsible for not simplifying the tax code; adding to, rather than cutting, an already ridiculous deficit; and failing to scale back regulations that have become a barrier to entrepreneurs (job creators) due to regulatory capture.
The Rice Young Democrats noted that Obama acted decisively after inheriting an economy in freefall after the worst financial crisis in eight decades, the evaporation of $13 trillion in household debt and the loss of eight million jobs. To forestall further job losses, the president signed the American Recovery Act, designed to provide immediate relief to the unemployed; direct funds to states to save the jobs of public employees like police officers, firefighters and teachers; and make long-term investments in fixing our failing infrastructure and shifting toward a clean energy economy. The results are resounding: 12 consecutive months of private sector job creation, and, as John McCain’s former economic adviser Mark Zandi put it, “the stimulus averted what would have been called the Great Depression 2.0.”
The Young Democrats also defended the cost controls of health care reform and noted that growth in the deficit is largely due to the price of the Bush tax breaks, two debt-financed wars, a recession-induced decline in tax revenues, and automatic stabilizers. The Democrats praised the role of regulation in setting standards for more fuel-efficient cars and in ensuring clean air, safe drinking water and worker protections. Regulation, they argued, is essential to reining in excessive risk-taking on Wall Street and reducing the severity of future financial crises.
While the Rice Young Democrats and the Rice Conservative Forum remain divided on the most effective ways to create jobs, we are united in our mission to promote substantive forums like this debate, which offer opportunities for students to lift their ideological blinders and consider a broad spectrum of public policy proposals.
• Watch the archived webcast of the Baker Institute Student Forum jobs debate.
Myles Bugbee is the president of the Rice Young Democrats. Sean Sessel is the president of the Rice Conservative Forum. Despite their divergent political perspectives, the two authors are close friends and proud members of Hanszen College.