President Barack Obama penned an op-ed in this morning's Wall Street Journal that reads like an apology to the business community. During the first two years, the Obama administration focused on economic recovery and the prevention of a future meltdown through financial regulatory reform. Today, however, his positions seems to have shifted as he announces a new executive order to review federal regulations and eliminate rules where possible.
Citing recent healthcare legislation and financial regulatory reform, major American corporations are shying away from spending money on growth. This is despite the fact that these companies hold over $2 trillion in cash and liquid assets.
The argument for less regulation reads somewhat antithetically. Obama is quick to point out how regulation places "unreasonable burdens on business — burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs." His executive order promises to eliminate "absurd and unnecessary paperwork requirements that waste time and money" as well as "avoid excessive, inconsistent and redundant regulation."
But in the same breath, he recognizes how a lack of government oversight nearly caused the next Great Depression. In the president's words:
At other times, we have failed to meet our basic responsibility to protect the public interest, leading to disastrous consequences. Such was the case in the run-up to the financial crisis from which we are still recovering. There, a lack of proper oversight and transparency nearly led to the collapse of the financial markets and a full-scale Depression.
