Roemer blames political parties for economic sloth

Former Gov. Buddy Roemer blames the major political parties for leading the nation to an economic identity crisis. And Louisiana, despite its business successes, cannot coast above the nation’s challenges forever. “It’s not an island in the economy,” Roemer told the Baton Rouge Press Club today. “We are connected to the larger American economy. We’re losing our competitiveness.” Roemer, the president and CEO of Business First Bank, says rapid government expansion and slowed growth nationally mean the “the global economy will be running us, not we it.” He criticized banking deregulation under former President Bill Clinton and said flagrant spending under former President George W. Bush led to debt that could “throttle” growth. Meantime, he says federal agencies let “the big boys” in Wall Street banking rely on as little as 2% capitalization, while his bank uses a 9% capitalization rule to protect against failing. Such homegrown conservatism could keep the Gulf South a top-performing region for the next 25 years, he says.—Todd R. Brown