The economy of the United States has been in a stall for more than a decade as measured by jobs growth over the past 35 years. While it is easy to blame all sorts of external forces, the primary forces leading to this malaise have been internal policies in the areas of finance, trade, taxation, and regulation. In a word, the U.S. has become increasingly... noncompetitive.
From 1977 to 2000, employment grew at about 20,000,000 jobs per decade. From 2001 through mid-2012, there has been no growth. [source]
All of the quantitative easing that has contributed to U.S. structural debt has done nothing to move the line above the 2001 watermark. The U.S. is barely treading water three years into a "recovery."
So... President Obama and Mitt Romney... what are your specific plans to address our noncompetitiveness? Another Quantitative Easing? Ho hum.
Click here for an extraordinary related video by economist Thomas Sowell.