"Will The Bush Economic Plan Create Jobs?"

June 9, 2003
Washington, D.C.

"A tax break for the rich is bonkers. The rich already spend everything they want to spend. After all, that's the definition of being rich."
    - Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor

"[T]he tax cuts are directed in ways that are very ineffective at creating jobs. Nearly all economists agree that excluding taxes on dividends and capital gains will have very little effect on job growth in the near-term. Tax breaks for business expenses will also not create jobs... What business needs is more customers - people to sell to. As demand grows, so will jobs and investment."
    - Lawrence Mishel, The Economic Policy Institute

"While not unimportant, the positive job impacts [of the Bush plan] are small (the economy has lost over half a million jobs since the beginning of this year alone), and the cost to the Treasury of generating these jobs is substantial. Not much of an employment bang for the buck. Moreover, even assuming the sunset provisions in the plan are adhered to, the larger budget deficits and higher long-term interest rates that result from the plan will lead to fewer not more jobs in the longer-run."
    - Mark Zandi, Economy.com

"[The Bush plan] is a poor way to stimulate the economy in the short-term: the same or bigger stimulus could be obtained with a lower long-term cost, simpler rules, a more equitable distribution of benefits, and less deterioration (or stronger preservation) of basic social needs."
    - William Gale, The Brookings Institution

Hearing Transcript

For a full transcript of the hearing click here.

Opening Statements

Senator Byron L. Dorgan
Chairman, Democratic Policy Committee

Senator Tom Harkin

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Senator Mark Pryor

Representative John Spratt, Jr.

Representative Robert Scott

Panel One

Robert Reich, Brandeis University

Jack Kemp, Empower America

Panel Two

Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute

Mark Zandi, Economy.com

William Gale, The Brookings Institution