Excessive regulation of businesses and a confusing tax code are called hindrances to growth
"A blowout of spending" by the federal government, its overregulation of business and a confusing tax code are some of the barriers that are thwarting the nation's economic recovery, a one-time Republican presidential candidate told the state's largest business lobby Tuesday in Baton Rouge. Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes magazine, told those at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry that the nation is making its slowest recovery "from a severe economic downturn since the 1930s." Much of the blame belongs to the federal agencies responsible for spurring recovery, he said.
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry sits with 1996 and 2000 presidential candidate Steve Forbes, right, during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, on Jan. 2. Forbes, who campaigned for a flat tax as a GOP presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, said one of the biggest hindrances to economic recovery has been the Federal Reserve Bank, which "has been a burden since the early part of the decade by printing too much money," effectively cheapening what is in circulation.
"When the Federal Reserve trashes your money," Forbes said, "it mucks up the economy. It is like introducing a virus into your computer; it corrupts."
The dollar, Forbes said, should be tied to the value of gold, which is somewhat flexible but more stable than the Federal Reserve's monetary policies.
Although President Barack Obama touted his stimulus program as a way to create jobs, Forbes said it has been part of the government's "blowout of spending" and has not been effective.
"Dollars don't come from Mars," he said, "nor is it manna from heaven. It comes from you."
Forbes called for a total rewrite of the federal tax code because it is cumbersome, archaic and too complex for anyone -- including the Internal Revenue Service -- to understand.
The Bible is about 775,000 words long, he said, while the federal tax code has "9 million words and rising. No one knows what is in it. The IRS doesn't know what's in it."
"Take the 9 million-word monstrosity and replace it. It is beyond repair. Take a stake, drive it through its heart, bury it and never let it rise again."
Forbes said federal regulations are also crippling businesses, and fewer restrictions could lead to cheaper services for consumers.
He said health care is one area that is stifled with regulations and Obama's health-care plan will make things worse.
"We should open up health care to real free enterprise," he said. "Let the doctors practice medicine and not be bureaucrats" engulfed in paperwork.
"Every major economic crisis in the last 100 years had its origins in government," Forbes said.
Ed Anderson can be reached at 225.342.5810.