October 27, 2010
Peter Orszag, President Obama’s former budget director, complained about the current antagonism between business and government commenting that “even if [it is] not the primary explanation for slow hiring and sluggish investment, does seem to be affecting hiring and other business behavior.”
First, let’s just get some things in perspective. The profit share of domestic income is at a record high. The banks that were central to the economic carnage we are now experiencing have seen their profits and bonuses return to their housing bubble peaks?
What do these little boys and girls have to complain about? Are the politicians saying nasty things about them?
I suspect most people would be pretty damn happy if they still had a job after messing up as bad as these people did. Instead, the Goldman, Citi, Morgan Stanley Wall Street gang are earning tens of millions a year — thanks to the taxpayer bailouts. And, they are upset about their relationship with government?
Okay, but let’s get to the substance. Is there any evidence whatsoever that this antagonism is “affecting hiring and other business behavior?”
If the antagonism was affecting hiring, then we would expect to see firms increase the length of the average workweek as they worked their existing workforce longer hours rather than take on new workers. There is zero evidence of this. The average workweek is up slightly from the low-point of the downturn, but it has been flat in recent months. It is still far shorter than it was before the downturn.
If businesses were deferring hiring then we would also expect to see them make more use of temps. Again, the data will not cooperate. Temp hiring is also up some from the low-point of the recession, but it still down more than 20 percent from pre-recession levels.
As far as the “other business behavior,” investment, which is the one we most care about, has actually been pretty healthy in the last few quarters. Investment in equipment and software has grown at nearly a 20 percent annual rate over this period. Investment in structures has been plummeting, but this is to be expected given the huge overbuilding in most categories of non-residential structures.
So, businesses are unhappy but it doesn’t seem to be affecting their economic behavior, even though it may affect their pattern of campaign contributions. The obvious answer is buy them all lollipops and move on to more serious issues.
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