During Bill Clinton's presidency, the unemployment rate fell from 7.3 percent to 3.9 percent. The number of people who were unemployed fell by 3.7 million over eight years. Love them or hate them, the Clinton years marked a high water mark for the creation of jobs.
On Tuesday, publisher Alfred A. Knopf released the former president's latest book, "Back to Work," which is in part a list of ways Clinton thinks the nation can get its job machine back on track. Here are five suggestions (out of 46) from the silver-haired "man from Hope."
1. Resolve the mortgage mess
Clinton reasons that banks are still holding about $200 billion in nonperforming loans for which they have to keep cash in reserve. Moving these loans off the banks' balance sheets would allow them to make more loans and possibly help consumers.
To do this, he wants the banks to commit to lowering mortgages on houses that are now worth less than the mortgage itself. But, if the house gets resold in the future at a higher price, the bank would share in the profits.
At the very least, borrowers who can't make even reduced payments should be given the option of swapping their deed for a multiyear lease with modest rental payments. That way, banks would at least get some money from a property that might otherwise be vacant.
Why is Clinton focusing on housing?
"The mortgage problem is freezing us in place," he writes.
2. Federal Reserve should give banks incentive to lend
The Fed, which has already lowered short-term interest rates to near zero, should start to charge banks a small interest rate instead of paying a small rate for holding their extra money. Clinton says Sweden did this after the financial crash.
"Now, Sweden is growing at 5.5 percent, much faster than the United States," writes the former president. If the Fed imposed even a modest fee, he reasons banks might be more willing to lend so they could make money, not lose money, on their cash. "It's worth a try," he writes.
3. Cut corporate taxes
No, Clinton has not become a Republican, but he notes that among wealthy nations the US has the second highest corporate tax rate.
What's Clinton's solution? He wants Democrats and Republicans to work together to eliminate many of the corporate tax credits and deductions but to lower the overall rate.
How does this relate to jobs? The benefits of the credits and deductions, he claims, often go to companies that don't create as many jobs as companies that pay a higher tax rate.
The one credit he would keep is for research and development.
"It will more than pay for itself, because more and more companies want their research operations located near their factories, to get the quickest possible feedback and implementation of positive discoveries."
4. Pass President Obamas payroll tax cuts
If Congress were to pass Mr. Obama's proposed 50 percent cut for 160 million workers, Clinton says it will add $1,500 to the typical family's income. That extra money sloshing through the economy will allow people to buy more goods, which may give corporate number crunchers more confidence to add more jobs, he reasons.
Of course, Democrat Clinton would end the Bush-era tax cuts on high-income earners. He says most "independent" studies show the payroll tax cuts have a more positive impact on the economy than the tax cuts for the rich.
5. Let companies bring home income earned overseas
Companies have billions of dollars overseas, and Republicans are in favor of a tax holiday to allow them to bring the money back without a tax liability.
Clinton agrees – so long as the money is reinvested to create new jobs. He notes that a Bush effort to let companies repatriate their billions in 2004 mostly went to pay dividends, buy back stocks, and pay executive salaries. He says three companies that got 20 percent of the total actually cut 30,000 jobs.
Clinton is open to allowing businesses to do bring back money for internal gain again, but not tax free. He would tax money brought home – but not used for job creation – at a low rate. The proceeds would be used to set up an infrastructure bank that would fund grants to states.
"If they just want to increase dividends and compensation, they'll pay 15 to 20 percent to reap the personal gains, and we can use the money to repair and modernize our infrastructure," says Clinton.