The annual Joint Economic Report for 2017 from the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) said Obama administration policies over the past year impeded the country’s economic growth.
The report is a response to the annual Economic Report of the President (ERP), issued by the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and published in the final days of the Obama administration. The JEC report said the ERP ignored several realities.
“The economy never surged back from the last recession despite the Obama Administration’s repeated promises. Rather than change course and reverse its policies that constrained growth, it chose more of the same. As each year of Obama’s presidency passed without a rebound, the Administration just postponed the projected timing and tempered its outlook,” Rep. Pat Tiberi, chairman of the JEC, said.
Among them, the JEC report said the Congressional Budget Office lowered its estimate of potential Gross Domestic Product every year since the recession. It also said the unemployment rate does not factor in people out of the workforce altogether.
The report also cited the highest tax rates in the developed world and Obama-era government regulations that have constrained economic growth.
“The good news is there is tremendous opportunity to implement policies that will encourage growth and expand opportunity for all Americans,” Tiberi said. “From regulatory relief, healthcare reform, and tax reform, to reductions of wasteful federal spending and opportunities to encourage job creators to invest, expand, and hire, there is plenty of room for improvement.”