Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of Creative Commons).

The former Massachusetts governor’s program would aim to create 11 million jobs, bring an annual economic growth of 4 percent, reduce the corporate tax rate to 25 percent and make $20 billion in federal budget cuts. He also proposed implementing free trade agreements, boosting domestic oil and gas production, and eliminating taxes on capital gains for individuals who earn less than $200,000.

"The right course for America is to believe in growth," Romney told CNN.com. "Growing our economy is the way to get people to work and to balance our budget."

A 160-page book titled, “Believe in America: Mitt Romney’s plan for jobs and economic growth,” was distributed before his speech, the Boston Globe reported. Romney stood under a banner that read, “Day one, job one” at a truck dealership and delivered his major policy address.
Columbia Business School Dean R. Glenn Hubbard wrote the forward for “Believe in America” and said that a growth agenda for the nation requires five parts:

“an emphasis on productivity growth, with policies to support saving and investment, innovation and research, trade, education, and training; a budget framework that does not threaten our fiscal health; tax policy that enhances economic growth; regulation that balances growth with concerns about safety and soundness; and a healthy financial system that meets the needs of savers and borrowers.”

University of California, San Diego economics professor Ross Starr said reducing federal expenditures during a period of high unemployment will not create jobs, but eliminate them.

"Two and a half million jobs a year is not impossible, but it is ambitious," Starr said in an email.

Job growth could be achieved through a federal spending program to allocate income to those likely to spend it, Starr said, such as extending unemployment benefits and continuing the employee payroll tax holiday. And by employing those in fields of high unemployment like construction trades.

Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Obama’s re-election campaign, blasted Romney’s proposal, comparing many of its key points to the policies in practice at the time of the 2008 economic crisis.

“Governor Romney repackaged the same old policies that helped create the economic crisis: boosting oil company profits and allowing Wall Street to write its own rules, more tax breaks for large corporations and more tax cuts for the wealthiest while working Americans are forced to carry a greater burden,” he said in a statement.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to unveil his job creation plans Thursday night to a joint session of Congress.

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