Saturday, January 14, 2012
Obama to give tax breaks to ‘insourcers'
From The Hindu
After a lull in 2011 during which United States President Barack
Obama focused on fire-fighting for domestic economic issues, his administration
would appear to have once again trained its gun on the thorny question of
outsourcing, particularly a thrust towards preventing jobs migrating to
off-shore locations such as India and China.
At a rare ‘Insourcing American Jobs' forum at the White House this
week, Mr. Obama resurrected the anti-outsourcing debate when he noted that in
the next few weeks ahead he would be putting forward “new tax proposals that
reward companies that choose to bring jobs home and invest in America.... We're
going to eliminate tax breaks for companies that are moving jobs overseas.”
Although the second year of his tenure saw him make similar
remarks that his critics described as protectionist, his visit to countries such
as India and South Korea during the following year shifted attention to trade
deals inked with these nations. Yet, this week the U.S. President appeared to be
gearing up to put all his administration's heft behind the top policy priority
of this election year — job creation.
Flanked by senior business leaders from companies such as Ford,
Mr. Obama said at the insourcing forum, “What these companies ... have in common
is that they... are bringing jobs back to America. You've heard of outsourcing.
“Well, these companies are insourcing. These companies are
choosing to invest in the one country with the most productive workers, the best
universities, and the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs in the world,
and that is the U.S.”
Reiterating his oft-stated goal of boosting American exports, he
added that the target he had set of doubling U.S. exports of goods and services
by 2014 would be met “a little ahead of schedule,” and that would be on the back
of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
He also took a political shot at potential Republican presidential
Mitt Romney, who formerly worked for private equity firm Bain Capital, when he
said, “I don't want America to be a nation that's primarily known for financial
speculation and racking up debt buying stuff from other nations.”
Building a strong economic case for the new emphasis on
insourcing, Mr. Obama noted that labour costs were going up in places like China
but contrarily the U.S. had become much more productive. “We continue to be the
largest market in the world,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “That's the economic
case.”
Labels: outsourcing, U.S. economy, U.S. employment
Sunday, April 24, 2011
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article1592005.ece
From The Hindu
Marking a continuing improvement in job market conditions in the United States, the economy added 216,000 jobs in March, according to the monthly report of the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics.
The news would cheer the Obama administration, for which job creation is likely to be the top priority for the remainder of this year.
Reacting to the report Austan Goolsby, Chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, said, “Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 230,000 in March, marking 13 consecutive months of private employment growth. Private sector employers added 1.8 million jobs over that period, including more than half a million jobs in the last three months.”
While expressing optimism that the unemployment rate had fallen for the fourth straight month to 8.8 per cent, he cautioned that, “as long as millions of people are looking for jobs, there is still considerable work to do to replace the jobs lost in the downturn.”
Mr. Goolsby also lauded specific stimulus policies of the administration for boosting jobs, arguing, “We are seeing signs that the initiatives put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – are creating the conditions for sustained growth and job creation.”
According to economists, while a sustained improvement in the job market would benefit Mr. Obama’s prospects of re-election in 2012, most estimates, even those of the White House, do not place the unemployment rate at anything below eight per cent until 2013.
Mr. Goolsby also warned that while the overall trajectory of the economy had “improved dramatically over the past two years,” there would “surely be bumps in the road ahead.”
Marking a continuing improvement in job market conditions in the United States, the economy added 216,000 jobs in March, according to the monthly report of the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics.
The news would cheer the Obama administration, for which job creation is likely to be the top priority for the remainder of this year.
Reacting to the report Austan Goolsby, Chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, said, “Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 230,000 in March, marking 13 consecutive months of private employment growth. Private sector employers added 1.8 million jobs over that period, including more than half a million jobs in the last three months.”
While expressing optimism that the unemployment rate had fallen for the fourth straight month to 8.8 per cent, he cautioned that, “as long as millions of people are looking for jobs, there is still considerable work to do to replace the jobs lost in the downturn.”
Mr. Goolsby also lauded specific stimulus policies of the administration for boosting jobs, arguing, “We are seeing signs that the initiatives put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – are creating the conditions for sustained growth and job creation.”
According to economists, while a sustained improvement in the job market would benefit Mr. Obama’s prospects of re-election in 2012, most estimates, even those of the White House, do not place the unemployment rate at anything below eight per cent until 2013.
Mr. Goolsby also warned that while the overall trajectory of the economy had “improved dramatically over the past two years,” there would “surely be bumps in the road ahead.”
Labels: U.S. employment, U.S.economy
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