Biopsy of Economy

The economy continues to dominate our thinking. Really dominate- how truly sad when the focus should be on advancing medicine and technology, not on whether your biotech start-up will make it through the end of 2009. I see a pick up in VC financing and even a rare IPO- perhaps things are beginning to turn. We've been bouncing along the boulder field of the cliff the economy fell off Sept 2008 for long enough. But here's the rub- how are we going to have a sustained recovery when the focus is on reforming health care instead of helping business? Obviously reforming health care is center stage for political reasons. It is highly likely the Democrats will loose dozens of seats in the House and several in the Senate in the mid-term election. A turnover in the House is not out of the question; the number of seats that are in contention in the Senate makes a turn-over there unlikely in 2010. The unemployment and Under-employment rate will only slowly improve by the fall of 2010 and the Dow will likely be over 10,000- but the number of middle-class voters still affected by this economy will be significant. Hence the urgency to institute a comprehensive health care reform while Obama still has super-majorities in the House and Senate and can push through a public option. Or a public mandate- who are we really kidding here? As a physician, I understand the attraction of a single payer system. Frankly the multitude of private insurances was a real nuisance from a billing perspective. But competition is always the best way.
Regarding the economy- why not institute an investment tax credit as has been done in the past? Accelerated depreciation, expensing of otherwise long term capital assets and the ability to fully write-off purchases for your business this year. Why does the present administration seem to believe that it can government-spend its way out of this deep recession when the only way out is to grow the private economy? And that means improving the business climate, not raising taxes and expecting business to somehow pick up the slack. It means letting go- not taking over more industries as has already been over done.
By early 2011 the Obama agenda will have run it's coarse. Let's hope it will somehow help sustain the life sciences, not stand on top of them.