Governor Romney’s current campaign platform is that he knows how to create jobs. He asserts that President Obama has had four years to fix the economy and failed. The governor promises to succeed.

The governor sees the private sector as responsible for economic expansion. He touts his own success at Bain Capital and advocates private investment and bank loans—in the hands of courageous business men and women with ideas—as the source of new firms and jobs.

So why then is the governor asking us to hold the administration responsible for our current economic mess? Is he suggesting that government is responsible for economic expansion, not the private sector?

If it’s not government’s role to stimulate the economy, then why is it to blame for unemployment? Alternatively, if the government has no role, why does it matter if a president knows how to create jobs?

By blaming unemployment on the administration and assuming job growth is its responsibility, is Governor Romney proposing a Nanny State for capitalists? Clarity would be valuable.

Since Franklin Roosevelt, government has soothed market risks with agricultural and other subsidies and doled out unemployment benefits. Tax policies have included incentives and benefits to drive behavior believed beneficial for the greater good.

The result has ameliorated risks and facilitated tax revenues. This has worked so well that voters consistently support free market capitalism side by side with a system of social support that includes investments in education, scientific discovery and community infrastructure.

New technologies, new means of interacting with one another and new methods for producing value are profoundly affecting us all. If we’re to continue unproductive misunderstandings or, worse, slide towards violent disagreements, President Obama and Governor Romney have a responsibility to delineate just how they will “fix” the economy, “create” new jobs and “stimulate” economic growth.

And how they will sustain liberty and justice for all.

Whoever we elect in November should win as a result of what we know and understand about their plans, not as a result of what we’ve not been told.