ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060031
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: FARRELL KRAMER ASSOCIATED PRESS
BECAUSE OF ACTION taken by previous administrations, many businesses say there will be no significant impact on them, no matter how the election goes.
If Election '96 is reverberating through the economy, it's hard to see where.
Forces such as the strength of trading partners Japan, Britain and Germany and the decisions of Alan Greenspan and his powerful Federal Reserve Board will play a bigger role in the financial health of the nation than the next administration and Congress.
``From the standpoint of the business community, particularly the sector I'm involved in, telecommunications, the feeling is the election is not going to have any significant impact,'' said Robert Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of BET Holdings Inc., the Washington-based parent of Black Entertainment Television.
Johnson, a Democrat, said he was happy that President Clinton appeared headed for victory, although he admitted he does like some of the things Republicans are talking about, such as a reduction in the capital gains tax. That might be more likely to happen with a Republican Congress, he allows.
In general, many like Johnson seem resigned to the likelihood of a split government in which a strong Clinton showing would not be enough to sway the balance of power in the House and Senate.
They seem not to mind that much.
While certain industries and interested parties, such as organized labor, have a lot at stake, the economy at large does not seem to. It's not nearly as big an issue as in 1992, year of ``It's the Economy, Stupid!''
``The agenda, whether it be a Republican or Democratic Congress or half-and-half, is far smaller,'' said Leslie M. Alperstein, executive managing director of HSBC Washington Analysis, a research unit of HSBC Securities Inc. That, he explained, is because so much already has been done.
The telecommunications industry, for instance, has already been largely deregulated, triggering a blast of dealmaking that includes British Telecom's recently announced $20.8 billion purchase of MCI.
Some fear that Clinton in a second term, if supported by a Democratic Congress, would revert to his more liberal roots and bring forth additional regulations that would hamstring business.
Gary Parker, chairman and CEO of Lindsay Manufacturing Co., a Lindsay, Neb.-based maker of automated irrigation products, is one of them. ``I think it is extremely important that there is a balance between the Congress and the White House,'' he said.
The issues, Parker said, are more significant industry-by-industry than for the overall economy, which added another 210,000 jobs last month.
For investors, the election may be moot. A mid-October survey of investors' sentiment by the discount brokerage Quick & Reilly found two-thirds of respondents expect the election to have little impact on the stock market over the next 12 months.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB