A forgotten virtue: unity makes good economic policy.

• Author: Gochnour, Natalie
• Position: Economic Insight

Just before penning this column, I took an afternoon run with my dog in Murray Park and received confirmation that spring is in full swing. I saw seven egg-size baby ducklings swimming with their mother in Little Cottonwood Creek. It's a Kodak moment that I look forward to every year because it symbolizes renewal. Whether it's ducks in a pond or economic recovery, we all love a bright new day.

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Next month will mark the third anniversary of the end of the Great Recession. According to our country's business-cycle dating experts (the National Bureau of Economic Research) the U.S. economic expansion ended in June 2009, even though it's been a bumpy ride. Utah's economy excels beyond national norms, but in both the Utah and national economies unemployment remains unacceptably high, wage growth too modest and housing too stymied. Economic life just ain't what it used to be.

Full economic recovery has been slow for myriad reasons, many outside of our control. Rising commodity prices, debt struggles overseas, conflict in the Middle East and natural disasters have all deterred our return to full economic potential.

But there has been another reason ... dare I say ... and that is disjointed and clumsy economic leadership that fails to unify us behind common goals. Tax policy by the month, brinkmanship on the debt ceiling, an unpopular and anti-business healthcare law and failure to move important national priorities like energy, immigration and others forward have created economic ambiguity, indecision and insecurity. Uncertainty prevails, while unity is a forgotten virtue that holds the key to our economic renewal.

I join a cadre of economists and thought leaders who are calling for greater economic unity as America seeks to regain its economic leadership in the world.

The first pitch for unity that caught my attention was a thoughtful book by Peggy Noonan called Patriotic Grace. Noonan imparts an urgent, heartfelt call for Americans to unite and address the problems of our day. She writes, "The partisan gamesmanship, the focus-group cynicism, the base-playing: There's only one base now...