In his Op-Ed column “Why a jobs summit?” (Opinion, Wednesday), Richard W. Rahn presented impressive arguments that lower taxes on upper-income persons and fewer regulations will reduce the unemployment rate. He was not able to present impressive evidence, however.
When Jimmy Carter was president, the top tax rate was 70 percent. Under President Reagan, this declined to 28 percent. It rose to 39.6 percent under President Clinton and declined to 35 percent under President George W. Bush.
An average of 2,600,000 jobs were created every year of the Carter presidency. Under President Reagan, this number declined to 2,000,000. The contrast between President Clinton and President George W. Bush is even more impressive: Under the former, an average of 2,900,000 jobs were created each year; during the latter’s presidency, only 375,000 jobs were created, by average, each year.
According to an editorial in The Washington Times a few years ago (“New job numbers,” Opinion, July 9, 2006): “… on average, 25,000 private-sector jobs have been created each month since January 2001. During the Clinton administration, private-sector non-farm employment increased by an average of 217,000 per month. (More than 91 percent of the total jobs created during the Clinton administration were in the private sector.)”
According to the CIA World Factbook, in 2008 the social-democratic economies of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom had lower unemployment rates than the United States. According to the Forbes 2009 Tax Misery and Reform Index, they have higher tax rates.
JOHN ENGELMAN
Wilmington, Del.
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf - The Washington Times
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By Donald J. Trump - The Washington Times
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Victory requires Mitt to complete his conversion
