System is already slowly healing itself (1.8% - 2% / year over year slow but steady employment growth (IIRC, Morningstar economist Bob Johnson has said this has been true for last 6 quarters / 18 months), and sluggish 2% real gdp growth (not population growth adjusted; population growth now is 0.7%, where it has been 1.4 - 1.5% some times in past). 3% real gdp growth is apparently "normal" historical average, and was apparently as high as 4.5% in 1960s. (these stats are based upon what Morningstar economist Bob Johnson has said on Morningstar website). He also said that recovery from this Great Bush near Depression has been half of what is typical after "generic" recession, but also that recovery from recession is normally driven by 1) housing, and 2) government spending...
If you listen to CEOs on CNBC or other business channels, who are discussing their businesses and not their personal political opinions, all they want is predictability and certainty; i. e. tell them the rules of the road and then they can decide whether or not expanding their businesses and hiring make sense now or in future.
In terms of unleashing the coiled spring that is corporate America (i. e. the tightly coiled spring that exists right now, not after, say if Romney were to come into office, which I think would end up being disaster for country) and creating a new Morning in America for all, things off the top of my head I'd say include:
- Obama Boehner Grand Bargain of some sort that puts country on glidepath to sustainable fiscal health over time
- complete overhaul of corporate tax code to lower rate (i. e. globally competitive actual rate paid, not nominal rate before loopholes) but most importantly, to incentivize proper allocation of capital (not just gaming the system with loopholes carved out by connected lobbyists), with repatriation of foreign profits as a chip in game
- (this part obviously will be controversial depending upon whom you support for President), but I say the personal income tax and estate tax reform President Obama recommends
- continue with Obamacare as initial step towards universal single payor health insurance (ultimately, goal is reining in out of control inflation in health care costs (not Medicare or entitlements, per se) that will eventually bankrupt country if not addressed, and improving outcomes / bang for the buck we currently get with our health care system)
- developing oil and natural gas resources with rational concern for environment, including things like completing that Canadian pipeline, and probably developing natural gas pipelines to coast where LNG plants can be built so we can export to Asia
- rebuilding manufacturing in country is also already occurring, but continue including alternative energy technology for when whole world is growing robustly and pushes cost of oil to very high levels that won't come down
- building infra-structure so we can compete globally in 21th century, and strong focus on education and prudent immigration policy so, for example, entrepreneurs of future build their businesses here vs. in India or elsewhere
- prudent financial regulation (probably has to be worldwide regulatory framework) that matches risk and reward (i. e. those who take risk have to have lots of their own skin in the game, like private Swiss bankers, who Kyle Bass said are apparently personally liable for losses they create for their depositors), and greater transparency of financial transactions so anyone can truly assess how risky a given counter-party is in the interconnected financial world in which we live
- take big money and corporate money out of politics, and / or make sure donors have to be totally transparent about whom they donate to and which ads they put up (transparency and accountability to actual voters, not richest or most politically connected entities) Karl Rove's entity is apparently opaque black hole, for example.