More than two years after the “end” of the Great Recession, employment is five percent below its January 2008 peak. Why was this recession so severe and the recovery so anemic despite a myriad of actions by Washington? This report takes up seven explanations, disposes of six of them and makes the case for the seventh. 1) The Great Recession will not be dispatched with more Keynesian moves to jump start demand. 2) We should not simply accept the idea that we need to be patient as financial balance sheets are straightened out. 3) Uncertainty about taxing and regulation is always a consideration but it is not a major factor in hindering growth. 4) While we need better trained and more mobile workers, the reported mismatch between job openings and qualified workers is overstated as a factor in high unemployment. 5) Technological gains have not run their course as a job-creating force. 6) Finally, robots and machines are not making workers obsolete. A seventh factor best explains the sluggish job growth: faltering U.S. competitiveness, including in our manufacturing sector which lost a greater share of jobs in the last decade than in the Great Depression. To get the recovery going full steam, we need to develop and implement a robust national innovation and competitiveness policy.