As A Former Member Of President Obama's

If Every Other Store In Town Is Paying Workers $9 An Hour, One Offering $8 Will Find It Hard To Hire Anyone - Perhaps Not When Unemployment Is High, But Certainly In Normal Times. Robust Competition Is A Powerful Force Helping To Ensure That Workers Are Paid What They Contribute To Their Employers' Bottom Lines.

There's A Joke In Economics About The Drunk Who Loses His Keys In The Street But Only Looks For Them Under The Lightposts. When Asked Why, He Says, 'because That's Where The Light Is.' That's The Problem With The Deficit.

Making Labor Less Expensive Helps Firms Hire People.

A Natural Way That An Economist Approaches A Problem Is To Say, Here's Where I Think The Economy Is Going; This Is What We Need To Deal With The Problem.

I Think Where I Differ A Little Bit, We Absolutely Have To Think About The Deficit Looking Down The Road. And Certainly That's Something The President Has Said That We Need To, As The Economy Recovers, Have A Plan In Place For Getting It Down.