Category: Economics
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With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true
What isn’t true? On January 9, President-elect (now President) Barack Obama said “There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jump start the economy.” Not everyone agrees with our new president. The Cato Institute placed a full-page advertisement the New York Times today. Its statement…
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The True Danger of the Current Economic Crisis
Thomas Sowell explains that the true danger we face is not recession or even a depression, but the permanent expansion of government that lingers forever: No matter how many times President Barack Obama tells us that these ?extraordinary times? call for ?swift action,? the kind of economic policies he is promoting take effect very slowly,…
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Economic Stimulus: Timing is Everything
When I took macroeconomics in college way back in the 70’s, people actually believed in Keynesian economic theory. It was in the textbooks. One of the problems with government attempting to stimulate the economy the Keynesian way is the matter of timing. By the time we’re sure we’re in a recession, Congress passes laws, and…
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Government Spending Is No Free Lunch
Robert J. Barro, an economics professor at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, has an excellent commentary in The Wall Street Journal. This piece explains the problems with the multiplier that backers of government stimulus programs count on to make the government spending work. Here’s an excerpt: Back in the…
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Just Say No to Stimulus
“Congress should not enact an expensive spending bill under the pretense of stimulus or recovery. We cannot spend our way to prosperity, and such an expansion of the federal government will put a crushing burden on taxpayers in the long-term.” That’s the online petition at NoStimulus.com. This website, a project of Americans For Prosperity, provides…
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Minimum Wage: Helpful? Or Not?
What’s one of the barriers to advancement by minorities in the workplace? We’re told that the minimum wage law is a guarantee that workers will not be exploited by greedy employers. But does it really work that way? Art Carden writes this in his article The Minimum Wage, Discrimination, and Inequality: Milton Friedman openly argued…
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Leave the New Deal in the history books
Saturday’s Wall Street Journal contains an editorial (Leave the New Deal in the History Books) that contains a summary of the effect of the New Deal.
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The bailout reader
The events taking place in the financial market offer an illustration of the soundness of the Austrian theory of money, banking, and credit cycles, and Mises.org, which has long warned of precisely the scenario playing itself out today, is your source not only for analysis of these events but also the economic theory that helps…
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Big Government Is Not Stimulus
From the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation. In less than four minutes, Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute reviews the theory and history of Keynesian policies, and demonstrates that more government spending does not spur economic growth. The video is very timely since government spending has increased dramatically under Bush and now Obama wants…
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In a time of crisis, don’t forget what they had to say
In his recent Forbes Magazine, Peter Robinson delivers three quotes from some great Americans: Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and William F. Buckley Jr. Two of the quotes made it to the “Featured thoughts” section of this blog. Robinson delivers some good analysis of the current economic situation, too. Click on In a time of crisis,…
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Who is Responsible for Inflation?
Walter Williams explains the difference between counterfeiting and monetary policy. He explains that “inflation results from an increase in the supply of money relative to the demand for money.” He asks who, then, is responsible for inflation? In the United states, who is able to create money? The answer, of course, is the Federal Reserve…
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Applying For Food Stamps: American Duty?
A television news story from yesterday in Wichita went like this: Television news anchor: “Some may think that using food stamps is a drain on the economy, but the truth is that’s really not right. Local organizers say using food assistance can help boost the economy during these tough times. One dollar of food assistance…