A not-so-momentous week

We are excited here at the Nauvoo Commuter. The party that traditionally supports small business is back in power (controlling part of one branch of government). But will it make a difference?

Here is a prediction. In two years, the economy will still be weak, and people will blame the Republican-held House of Representatives. They'll be thrown out, and we'll return to business as usual, and that will  not make a difference either. Not because "they're all the same anyway," but because the economic forces we're facing are much bigger than Congress.

The fact is, government makes almost no difference in improving the economy. Sometimes (once or twice in a century), Congress will get out of the way and let us succeed, but normally they get in the way regardless of intent.

The U.S. economy and the global economy are experiencing fundamental shifts. We are experiencing growing pains. The stimulus plan has lengthened the pain (just as it did under FDR, in Japan during the 1990s, and in every other case it has been attempted), but the pain would be here regardless of who sits on Capitol Hill.

Just ignore it. Don't wait for jobs to be "created." Make your own way. You can vote for those who will be more likely to get out of your way. But the best stimulus is the stimulus of your own making.

So if you're still sitting on the sofa waiting for a politician to make or break you, you need to turn on the television and forget all of your dreams.