EDMOND —
Quiz: Under which president did government employment fall?
a. President Richard M. Nixon
b. President Ronald W. Reagan
c. President George W. Bush
d. President Barack Obama
Judging from the tenor of the public debate, at least here in Oklahoma, I’m guessing few people would select “b” but “d” is the correct answer.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, government employment (at the federal, state and local levels combined) has been steadily increased since 1947. During the Eisenhower administration, 1.7 million government workers were added to the payrolls. Another 3.5 million government jobs were added during the Kennedy/Johnson administrations, and 2.8 million government jobs were created during the Nixon/Ford administrations. The government job growth continued with the Carter (1.3 million), Reagan (1.4 million), Bush (1.1 million), Clinton (2.0 million) and Bush (1.7 million) administrations, too.
But during the Obama administration this growth in government employment not only slowed but reversed course. So far during the Obama administration government employment has actually fallen by 730,000 jobs. In short, President Obama — the oft-labeled champion of big government — has presided over the largest decline in government employment since the immediate post-World War II era.
Granted, this is not likely something that the president views as a success from his administration. In fact, with a number of proposals, including most recently with the American Jobs Act, President Obama has sought to increase the number of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and government construction workers. However, recalcitrant Republicans in Congress have thwarted those attempts.
The real question though is “why”? Standard economic theory predicts that in times of high unemployment that government spending can stimulate the economy. In short, spending money on government jobs can help create private-sector jobs too. We even saw this happen with the 2009 stimulus bill, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates created up to 5 million jobs (in the public and private sectors combined) at its peak. Since that time though, government employment has declined significantly and as a result more people are unemployed today. Yes, the economy has grown and jobs are being created. But because government employment is falling the economy isn’t growing as fast as it otherwise would. It is interesting to note that if government employment had grown at the same pace during these first three years of the Obama-recovery as it did during the first three years of the Reagan-recovery, an additional 1.4 million Americans would be employed today.
Congressional Republicans have wanted to shrink the size of government and as a result more people are unemployed today.
The bad news is that Congressional leaders aren’t willing to soften their stance anytime soon. By eschewing any compromise with the White House, Congress has forced an $85 billion cut in federal government spending (which will grow to $109 billion in cuts next fiscal year) putting less money in workers’ pockets.
This decline in spending likely won’t be enough to tip the economy back into another recession, but it will grow more slowly than it otherwise would. Much like we’ve seen over these past three years where congressional contractionary policy has slowed growth, but not erased it, the sequester’s spending cuts will result in slower job growth than we otherwise would have. Unfortunately, this means more people will remain unemployed longer, and more families will suffer more.
As an economist it’s strange to see this fascination with austerity — this desire from so many on the right to shrink the size of government so much that they will sacrifice jobs and prosperity for millions of families. Sadly, this allure of austerity that has seemingly gripped Congress, will continue to lead us down the wrong economic path.
MICKEY HEPNER is the dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Oklahoma. Hepner serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for The Oklahoma Academy.
Opinion
BY THE NUMBERS: The strange allure of austerity
- Opinion
-
-
Excuses for data sweep sound hollow
Perhaps 2013 will go down as the year privacy and civil liberties became too inconvenient for government. Listening to assorted officials defend massive programs that scoop up vast amounts of data certainly gives that impression.
-
I pay property taxes ... please fix my road
Imagine paying thousands of dollars every year in property taxes and at the same time watching your roads literally crumble under the strain of increasing traffic. Unfortunately, some won’t have to imagine this because I’ve just described your reality.
Maybe you have even asked your County Commissioner why property tax money isn’t being used to maintain your road. He probably responded, “Almost all of your property tax money goes to public schools. Only about 15 percent goes to the county and most of that is not for roads.” -
Vision 2020 conference loaded with speakers
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer — playing in the water, grilling, enjoying time with family; maybe preparing for vacation. But for Oklahoma educators, I hope your plans include a trip to Oklahoma City, July 9-11 to attend the State Department of Education’s Vision 2020 professional development conference.
The conference is free to all Oklahoma educators. -
The Oklahoma Standard
The “Oklahoma Standard” was a term coined during our state’s response to the tragedy of April 19, 1995. The connotation has many layers: the standard of trained first responders, the standard of non-trained first responders (neighbors helping neighbors), the standard of our faith community, the standard of welcoming out of state relief workers that arrived to help. In short, meeting the need and answering the call without reservation or inhibition.
-
The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock on farm bill
The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock
on farm bill
With a hopeful sound of gridlock cracking, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that he will vote for the House farm bill even though he has “concerns.” He reasons that “doing nothing means we get no changes in the nutrition programs.”
He may be merely pragmatic but we’ll take it. Rural Republicans are tired of the delays and want the five-year subsidy measure enacted. -
Crazy Kim and the Tippy Twos
Kim Jong Un certainly seems crazy. But sound mind isn’t a requirement for predictable action. Tyrants often mask steady goals with wild behavior. One need only think of world pests like Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein to realize entire regions can be thrust into unwanted global crises.
Like Castro and Saddam, Kim Jong Un has made clear he’s dedicated to expanding his ability to harm America and her allies. The difference is, he has a nuclear capability, not a borrowed or boasted one. North Korea has a proven record of long-range missile development that could ultimately hit the American mainland. -
Don’t blame the President; it’s us
June 17 marks the 41st anniversary of the second Watergate break-in. This is a good time to take a look back and reflect on what can happen when a corrupt administration throws a protective cloak around the misbehavior of a gang of unscrupulous cheats, liars and crooks.
On the morning of June 18, 1972, millions of us were unaware of the festering corruption that would ultimately rot our confidence in the president. We did not know that his administration was using the FBI as a tool to wiretap telephones of reporters regarded as unfriendly to the White House. We were oblivious to the fact the administration encouraged the IRS to audit media representatives whose reporting criticized the president. -
2 bills aid Oklahoma students
I recently attended two ceremonial bill signings at the State Capitol to celebrate legislation I feel is of vital importance to Oklahomans.
-
Time to roll back the Patriot Act
It’s time. It’s time for President Obama to live up to his own words. It’s time for Congress to do its job. It’s time to contract the ever-expanding national security state. And it’s time to roll back the Patriot Act. In Washington, elected officials are circling the wagons. The Obama administration claims that its Internet and telephone surveillance programs are legal; the ones we know about, indeed, are. But just because something is legal and can be done does that mean that it should remain so and continue to be done? No. Laws are made and unmade all the time. And the argument that vast, dragnet-style surveillance has stopped terrorists at the lamentable expense of privacy is exactly the same argument that the Bush administration made about torture: Better to sacrifice our principles and a few people in the hope of saving many.
-
Time to roll back the Patriot Act
It’s time. It’s time for President Obama to live up to his own words. It’s time for Congress to do its job. It’s time to contract the ever-expanding national security state. And it’s time to roll back the Patriot Act.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Excuses for data sweep sound hollow
