FIsher, a Democrat, said the following praises of Perry's job performance in Texas.............
Richard W. Fisher,
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president, waded into the intensifying national debate on Texas job creation Wednesday, praising the state’s recent growth record and saying
Texas is doing more than just adding low-wage positions.
Since the U.S.
recession ended in June 2009, Fisher said, three major employment categories have accounted for the bulk of jobs added in Texas: education and health services; professional and business services; and mining and logging, which includes oil and gas extraction.
While the average weekly wage in the first category is $790, less than the state average of $903, the average weekly wages in the latter two categories are higher than average, he said.
“These jobs are not low-paying jobs,” Fisher said in a speech in
Midland.
Fisher also explained his dissenting vote at last week’s Fed meeting. He and two other regional Fed presidents opposed a statement supported by Chairman
Ben Bernanke that economic conditions were likely to warrant exceptionally low interest rates “at least through mid-2013.” The three dissenters preferred wording from earlier Fed statements that low rates would be needed “for an extended period.”
Fisher said he was not concerned with immediate inflationary pressures, and he was worried about “the fragility of the U.S. economy and weak job creation.” The reason he dissented, he said, was that he didn’t think easier monetary policy would prompt more job gains.
For job creation to accelerate, he said, companies large and small need greater clarity on tax and regulatory costs.
“In an environment where they are already uncertain of potential growth in demand for their goods and services and have yet to see a significant pickup in top-line revenue, there is palpable angst surrounding the cost of doing business,” Fisher said.
According to his business contacts, the recent debt ceiling negotiations in
Congress “compounded this uncertainty, leaving business decision-makers frozen in their tracks,” he said.
He added that “fiscal misfeasance in Washington” was restraining the economy.
Mike Konczal, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank in
New York, said the larger problem for most companies is weak demand.
“If you go and ask businesses what is holding them back, it is not regulation, it is not the workforce,” Konczal said. “It’s poor sales.”
In an oblique reference in his Midland speech, Fisher also appeared to take a swipe at
Princeton University economist
Paul Krugman, a
Nobel Prize winner in economics and liberal columnist for
The New York Times.
In a column Monday headlined “The Texas Unmiracle,” Krugman said Texas job gains offered no useful lessons on restoring national full employment, given the state’s reliance on cheap labor, weak regulation and high population growth, as well as oil and gas activity. Krugman noted that Texas Gov.
Rick Perry is touting the state’s job growth in his bid for the
Republican presidential nomination.
Fisher, a veteran of the Carter and
Clinton administrations, acknowledged that in 2010, 9.5 percent of Texas’ hourly workers earned the federal minimum wage or less. The state is tied with Mississippi for the highest percentage in the nation.
But he said much of the state’s recent job gains had come in relatively well-paid sectors.
“The Dallas Fed will henceforth be providing monthly updates on employment in Texas through our website,” he said. “We hope it will be a useful tool for everyone, ranging from columnists who write for
The New York Times to the pundits who provide commentary for Fox News, as well as serious economists.”
Dalls Fed Reserve Chair Praises Perry
Hey dumbass, you changed the subject in post #4, then found that Rush soundbite incorrect!
