It’s official: The United States has just elected its first black president. I hope you will join me in observing this historic moment. Even if you don’t agree with his policies, I think this is symbolic of a shift in the social fabric of this nation over the past decade.
I haven’t written too much about the candidates thus far for three reasons. First, many finance bloggers have written detailed and informative posts comparing and contrasting Obama and McCain’s economic policies over the past few weeks. At the time, I didn’t feel like I had anything to add to what was already out there. Second, I hadn’t had the time to do enough in-depth research on the subject to make a recommendation either way. Third, I’ve been preoccupied with other matters of late.
Is Obama Good For The Economy?
But that’s about to change. Over the next few weeks, I will write a series of post on what I think are the the practical outcomes of several of Obama’s economic policies. While I voted for Obama, it was admittedly more because of his social and education policies than his ideas on the economy. Obama is a good candidate, but he’s not perfect. There are many Obama policies I agree with and some I don’t.
Obama Economic Policies I Like
- Eliminating capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses
- Using trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards abroad
- Creating an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in compelling advanced manufacturing strategies
- Invest in clean energy
- Creating a universal mortgage credit (I’ve been complaining about this for years!)
- Address predatory credit practices, specifically credit cards
Obama Economic Policies I Don’t Like
- Ban the permanent replacement of striking workers i.e. companies would not be allowed to lay off striking workers no matter how long the strike lasts
- Raising the minimum wage (The data does not support the rhetoric on this one)
- Prohibiting universal default on credit cards
- Enacting a windfall profits tax on oil companies
- Providing tax credits to companies who hire more domestic workers rather than hiring overseas
Of course, there are countless other policies I could mention on both sides of the equation, but these are the major ones for me. Over the next few weeks, I will explore some of these policies in greater detail and explain why I do or do not support them as well as present some dissenting views. Stay tuned!
Are there any Obama policies you are particularly for or against? Why or why not? Please make your voice heard in the comments.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Andy // Nov 5, 2008 at 10:40 am
Yes, it was a historic moment yesterday and I was glad to be able to watch it unfold. Act 1 is over and now we shall see how the rest of the play unfolds. Thanks for the link back and look forward to reading your analysis. I know you did not choose to blog full time right now, but it must be good to be able to focus 100% on writing/bloggging.
2 Ted Murphy // Nov 5, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I thought there was literally no policy Obama was suggesting that would benefit me — I particularly disliked his ideas for universal health care (swapping a system with greater than 80% approval for one with less than 40% approval), his desire to raise my taxes (yes, my household makes more than $150k per year), and his stated desire to leave Iraq (I think that the war in Iraq has kept me safer).
So your point that he is “Eliminating capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses” came as a shock. Until I realized that there is never any capital gains generated in a startup or small business. Whew! What a relief!
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