GOP, White House dispute cause of good GDP numbers

“The incentives for business investment will further boost the economy,” Austan Goolsbee, the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said in a blog post. “The administration will continue to focus on actions that the President has recommended to increase growth and job creation, such as providing incentives to encourage businesses to invest and hire here at home, investing in education and infrastructure, and promoting exports abroad.”

Republicans and the Obama administration did agree, however, that the deal reached to maintain the Bush tax cuts was a good decision.

“This uptick is no doubt due in part to the certainty that Washington has given the private sector through the recent tax deal,” Cantor’s website said. Goolsbee seemed to agree, noting that private forecasters think the tax deal “will have a significant impact on economic growth this year.”

The Commerce Department reported the fourth quarter GDP numbers this morning, and the 3.2 percent increase lead to a 2.9 percent increase in GDP for 2010.