Edward Prescott is a co-winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in economics and director of the Center for the Advanced Study in Economic Efficiency at Arizona State University.
In the first quarter of 2014, GDP in the U.S. plunged at a 2.9% annual rate, and productivity—the inflation-adjusted business output per hour worked—declined at a 3.5% annual rate.
In his State of the Union address last Tuesday, and in speeches across the country since, President Obama has emphasized that Washington needs to "do more to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who create most new jobs in America." He's right.
President Obama argues that the election gave him a mandate to raise taxes on high earners, and the White House indicates that he won't compromise on this issue as the so-called fiscal cliff approaches.
