Businesses explore ways to create jobs

TEXT OF STORY

Bill Radke: Remember the White House “Jobs Summit” last December, where President Obama pledged to help businesses create jobs? Well the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it didn’t work. So today, the business lobby is holding its own Jobs Summit across the street from the White House. Reporter Cathy Duchamp has this preview.

Catchy DuChamp: What’s the best way to create jobs? End the uncertainty about the economy. That’s according to the U.S. Chamber’s Stan Anderson. He says lingering questions lead businesses to hold back on making investments:

Stan Anderson: They’re concerned that we may be going back into a double-dip recession. They’re concerned that they don’t know what their tax rates are going to be next year. They don’t know what’s going to happen to regulations that are going to be imposed on them.

Anderson says the Obama administration needs to take action: sign trade agreements to boost exports, ease up on new regulations, and most important, don’t let those Bush administration tax cuts expire. Economist Joshua Shapiro with MFR Financial says low taxes are good, but there’s no quick fix.

Joshua Shapiro: The problem is that a lot of this requires just patience. And an understanding that we didn’t get into this mess overnight and we’re not going to get out of it overnight.

But with mid-term elections this Fall, there’s no such thing as patience.

I’m Cathy Duchamp for Marketplace.