@revelette,
revelette wrote:
Why are these companies and others not hiring? They are paying lower taxes, they are making a profit, yet they don't hire because they want to save for a rainy day? How do they expect the economy to remain sunny if most of the work force in the country is out of work?
In the first place, they are not "paying lower taxes". No significant changes to the corporate tax structure have occurred nationally, though the IRS has definately become harsher in areas subject to interpretation.
Corporations hire either in response to increased demand, or as part of an investment in expanded services, production or geographic reach. Demand generally is not increasing, and uncertainty about the future is seriously inhibiting investment.
Unlike Cyclo, I can't speak for all corporate boards, but the three on which I sit are concerned in rough order about; increasing energy and commodity prices; uncertain future access to capital; new financial regulatory compliance costs; the still unfolding changes to health care costs associated with Obamacare; generally low expectations of continued economic growth nationally; aggressive government action in support of labor unions - the Boeing example set a new (and scary) standard in this area; stll pending new EPA rules on CO2 emissions ; increased taxes (in some areas) and a general perception of instability and unpredictability in financial markets. All of these factors make reliable forecasts of a positive return on investment very hard to produce.
To deter investment all that is required is the inability to forecast a positive return. We certainly have that in spades right now.
