Economist Mark Zandi on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown said GOP economic plans are “not going to help us quickly in the very near term.”
ZANDI: Well, republican proposals -- and there are a number -- trade bill, patent bill, deregulation, some ideas around energy. You know, they're not bad as long-term economic policy. I don't think they mean much for the economy, though, in the near term, not certainly for the next 6, 12, 18 months. And I think that's where I'm most concerned and focused. You know, the risks of recession, despite today's jobs numbers, is still very, very high, given what's going on in Europe, given the decline in stock prices here, given the foreclosure crisis and the decline in housing values. We have to work really hard to avoid going back into recession, because if we go back into recession now in the next 6, 12 months, our budget deficit's going to balloon out, it's going to undermine tax revenue, government spending's going to increase just automatically, you know, through all the automatic stabilizers in the budget. So, we've got to avoid that. And so, I think I would agree with the president that we need to take some steps, most notably extending and expanding the payroll tax holiday for employees, as proposed, to make sure we don't go back into recession as an insurance policy. Now, the republican proposals are fine. I think, you know, they're good policy longer run. We need to focus on things like on trade and patent protection and deregulation, but that's not going to help us quickly in the very near term.
