Obama, Romney fail to provide recovery visions

WASHINGTON - Both President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney have failed to provide clear visions for US economic recovery, US Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said Friday.

Romney's five-point job creation plan was a "sham" with no description of the policies he would follow to make those things happen, Krugman said in his latest column article on The New York Times.

US President Barack Obama (R) and Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney shake hands at the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, Oct 22, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

"His real plan seems to be to foster economic recovery through magic, inspiring business confidence through his personal awesomeness," Krugman said.

Romney has repeatedly touted his five-point jobs plan to create 12 million new jobs in the coming four years through measures such as cutting taxes, reducing government regulations, and boosting oil and gas exploration and development.

Obama, in his turn, did not offer an inspiring vision for the economic recovery, and "his economic agenda is relatively small-bore-a bunch of modest if sensible proposals rather than a big push. More important, it's aimed at the medium term, the economy of 2020, rather than at the clear and pressing problems of the present," Krugman said.

The Obama campaign rolled out its latest job plan earlier this week, noting that the nation should grow the economy by strengthening the middle class, creating 1 million new manufacturing jobs by 2016, cutting US net oil imports in half by 2020 and helping small businesses to grow.

The point was that America was still suffering from an overall lack of demand, the result of the severe debt and financial crisis that broke out before Obama took office. In a better world, the president would be proposing bold short-term moves to "move us rapidly back to full employment," Krugman contended.