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WSJ's Seib: What Business Leaders Want, What Washington Delivers

Mar 20, 2014

Following the release of Business Roundtable's Q1 2014 Economic Outlook Survey, BRT Chairman Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, and BRT President John Engler visited with editors and reporters of The Wall Street Journal to discuss the results and other issues of the day.

The Journal reported an angle that drew less attention in other coverage, that is, the beneficial effects of last year's budget agreement, negotiated in part to preclude the kind of fiscal crises that created so much economic uncertainty.

From WSJ (subscription), "In Business Roundtable survey, CEOs See No Quick Increase in Hiring":

WASHINGTON—U.S. business leaders, encouraged by the recent break in Washington's budget gridlock, are increasingly looking to boost spending. But that probably won't come in ways that would drive rapid hiring or economic growth, according to a new Business Roundtable survey of top CEOs.

A two-year agreement forged by Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) last year halted the cycle of budget battles in Congress, including brinkmanship over the federal debt ceiling and a government shutdown in October.

"To have a government that's in regular order once again and actually operating under a budget, we think, is very important for driving investment and economic growth," Business Roundtable Chairman Randall Stephenson, who is chief executive of AT&T Inc., told Wall Street Journal reporters and editors Tuesday. "We give a lot of credit to the Ryan-Murray plan."

Gerald Seib, Washigton bureau chief, also recorded this short video summarizing the survey and Stephenson's interview. Business leaders are looking for four things, he reports:  Fiscal stability, immigration reform, trade agreements with Asia and Europe, and perhaps foremost, business tax reform. 

Seib: "The forecast, the bottom line, to use a business term? Look for continued tension between what business leaders want and what Washington is delivering."

Seib's commentaries are part of the digital edition of the Washington bureau, which he developed.