Kasich-nomics

Shame on me for forgetting her name, but I'll always remember my college economics professor.  She was articulate, witty and distinguished, with prematurely white hair.  She gave a great lecture.  She was also in the U.S. Navy Reserves and would occasionally teach in her dress blues, which really added to her impact.  But I digress.

What lingers in my memory are her opening comments to us in our very first class.  Her first words were, "Don't take any of this too seriously."  She went on to explain that there's a reason why economics is called the Dismal Science, that it's really more art than science -- just educated guesswork, that an economic policy action often takes several years to show results (if any), and therefore government officials generally take too much credit and get too much blame for the economic conditions on their watch.  That's a hell of a way to begin Economics 101.  I loved it!

Our current American economy keeps coming back after the devastating Crash of 2008.  There has been much good national economic news lately -- unemployment is still falling, new hiring ("job creation") is rising, the stock market is healthy, interest rates remain low, etc.  The so-called experts agree that most trends are positive.

Here in Ohio, Jawhnny Kasich has claimed credit for it.  The Wonder Guv says that since he took office in 2011, Ohio has regained 425,000 jobs in the private sector, calling it a "full recovery" from the Recession.  He says that he and his privatized development agency, JobsOhio, did it with tax cuts (what else?).  Jawhnny says a lot of things.

What he doesn't say is:

• Even with a host of previous tax cuts, Ohio had been steadily shedding jobs since 2000.

• Following the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, there was nowhere to go but up and the recovery was already underway when he was elected.

• Ohio's changing fortunes are a reflection of the steady national trend and he, Kasich, is mainly a beneficiary of good timing.

• Employment in Ohio is still 240,000 jobs below the 2000 level.

• Our private sector gains have yet to translate into higher incomes for workers.

• While the private sector in our state was recovering, Kasich oversaw the loss of 43,000 government jobs in the same time period, and the January monthly report shows Ohio lost another 8,200 public-sector jobs.

So when Kasich boasts about how this proves he's a trickle-down economic genius, remember the words of my old prof:  Don't take any of this too seriously.