Ken Langone, one of the founders of Home Depot, wrote this piece in the Wall Street Journal last week. In it, Langone takes the president to task for what his policies are doing to the economy: If we tried to start Home Depot today, under the kind of onerous regulatory controls that you have advocated, it's a stone cold certainty that our business would never get off the ground, much less thrive. Rules against providing stock options would have prevented us from incentivizing worthy employees in the start-up phase—never mind the incredibly high cost of regulatory compliance overall and mandatory health insurance. Still worse are the ever-rapacious trial lawyers.
He also calls the president on his vacillating rhetoric when talking about the business community: That short-sighted wavering—between condescending encouragement one day and hostile disparagement the next—creates uncertainty that, as any investor could tell you, causes economic paralysis. That's because no one can tell what to expect next.
Langone, with his wealth of experience in business, would seem a good pick for the White House economic team, but it won't happen in this administration.
H/T: mckte
