Correct answer: None. The president of the United States can’t create jobs. That’s something only employers in a free market can do. However, the president of the United States can do the following to help those employers create jobs:
- Lower corporate tax rates. Lower tax rates for employers means that they have more money in their pockets to invest into their business, which means they can afford to expand their business and hire more employees. This has the dual positive effect of creating jobs, and creating more personal income from those new employees, which will generate additional income tax for the government to reduce the deficit. Corporate tax rates not only have to be lower, but they need to be competitive with other nations, to bring jobs and money back home from overseas.
- Reduce regulation. Because regulation costs money to implement, it is simply another form of taxation. Every business that is spending money to comply with government regulations is not using that money to expand and create jobs. So again, by reducing regulation, you are increasing the amount of money in the business’ pocket, which can be used for expansion and hiring.
- Encourage domestic energy production. Again, this is where deregulation comes in strong. Open up drilling in places where it makes sense, such as offshore deep water wells and ANWR. Streamline the process of building and operating oil refineries, natural gas facilities, and nuclear power plants. This will create over a million jobs, as well as keep a substantial amount of money in the United States, which will, again, give domestic companies the funds to expand and hire.