Transcripts

Two Ways To Play-Kevin Depew of Minyanville

SUSIE GHARIB: It's said there are two sides to every story and two ways to play every trade. So tonight, we get two takes on what's being called the 21st century new deal. With tonight's two ways to play, here's Minyanville's Kevin Depew and Kevin Depew of Minyanville.

KEVIN DEPEW, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, MINYANVILLE.COM: The Federal Reserve is forecasting unemployment to approach 9 percent by the end of this year. You have to go back to 1983 for the last time jobs were this scarce. President Obama has pledged bold, decisive action to remedy it, investing in bridges, roads and modernizing schools. If the recently signed economic stimulus bill harkens back to the 1930's and FDR's new deal, it's no coincidence. Similarly, our 21st century new deal will combine much-needed infrastructure spending with immediate job creation. What we're dealing with is no ordinary recession and the cost of doing nothing far outweighs what we're spending to help people. It's an attractive narrative, the myth that a new president vowing bold experimentation is going to take decisive action to save the economy and reduce unemployment. But just because a storyline is told over and over again doesn't make it true. The numbers don't lie. A full seven years after the new deal began, unemployment remained higher than 17 percent. Meanwhile, taxes tripled over that time span and new deal policies, which increased the cost of labor to businesses all over the country, causing them to purchase less of it, delayed the recovery. Today, we are tragically heading down the same path. Instead of allowing failed businesses to liquidate, we're propping them up which ironically, will hurt the very people we're trying to help.