Employment Policies 101: Can a President fix Employment?

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Welcome to the “Employment Policies 101” series! Every couple of weeks we will explore the relationship between politics and employment. This is crucial as we move toward selecting a new leader of the free world. Each forerunner is setting forth economic policies and it has us wondering, what will happen to jobs?

Our Top Candidates Have Big Plans

Clinton’s platform is based on “strong, fair and long term growth”. Her employment policies range from providing middle class citizens with more tax reliefs to stimulating job growth with investments in infrastructure, research and clean energy.

Trump’s plan to make the economy great again relies on tax relief and trade reform with China. He wants to simplify tax tiers, reducing them from 7 to 4. His plans to reform trade with China are aggressive and aimed at bringing jobs back to the U.S.

Politics + Employment = Challenging

Creating impactful employment policies requires an understanding of economic growth, demand for labor, regulations, taxes, globalization, education and the supply of skills. The complex interaction of these variables over time is mindboggling, even for labor economists. The challenges associated with forming policy that will actually effect change does not stop our candidates from trying.

It is difficult to predict, what impact these polices would have on employment and economic growth. That sort of prediction can be presumptuous anyway. Why? While policies that a president supports may contribute to economic growth, these polices are often subject to gridlocked debate. Clinton’s history has certainly embroiled her in the partisan politics of Washington. Trump’s polarizing approach to politics will win him friends and make enemies. No matter who is elected, passing legislation could prove difficult.

We will be keeping on eye on the effect that politics has on employment as we move forward in the blog series, Employment Policies 101. While the Presidential Candidate’s policies tell us what the priorities are, they are just one slice of our larger “poli-nomic” pie. I can’t wait to dig into each slice.

Want more insights into the economy and the workplace? Check back with us on the 16th for our next installment!

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