Duncan Black:

I understand the difficulties of getting things done, of Republican obstructionism, of Democrats who also, too, suck, but ultimately such excuses don’t matter. Results do. If I were the one in charge of this pop stand, I’d direct my economics team to come up with the “If I were a prime minister instead of a president, this is what we would do” plan. And if all they came up with was minor tax breaks for hiring, “patent reform,” and “trade deals,” I’d, you know, fire them.

That would be great, if Duncan were in charge. But he isn’t. Unless this is Duncan raising a trial balloon for him to be drafted as a presidential candidate, I’m not sure what the point is. Barack Obama wants “minor tax breaks for hiring, “patent reform,” and “trade deals” so he isn’t going to fire the people who bring him these ideas.