I periodically get emails and phone calls from people wanting me to respond to particular statements from politicians, columnists, and other high-profile figures. Not surprisingly, Paul Krugman occasionally is the subject of these communications, particularly with regards to his view that Keynesian spending is an elixir and universal cure for economic stagnation. I certainly have […]
read more...I’m disappointed, but not surprised, to read in the Washington Post that President Obama has decided against any changes to restrain Social Security spending. He’ll still probably subject us to pious and insincere rhetoric about fighting red ink in tonight’s State-of-the-Union address, but it is very revealing that the President is rejecting even the recommendations […]
read more...Grousing about the GOP’s timidity in the battle against big government will probably become an ongoing theme over the next few months, and let’s start with two items that don’t bode well for fiscal discipline. First, it appears that Republicans didn’t really mean it when they promised to cut $100 billion of so-called discretionary spending […]
read more...This blog repeatedly has chronicled the huge discrepancy between the gold-plated compensation for government employees and the meager salaries and benefits of people in the productive sector of the economy, including a video conclusively demonstrating that bureaucrats are overpaid. This message is now resonating all across the nation. Even the New York Times, as shown […]
read more...Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is at it again, giving an interview that combines all of the worst features of Keynesian economics. I have an excerpt below from a New York Times report, which features an amazing amount of mistakes in a very short amount of space. Here are three that demand correction.
read more...The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that the unemployment rate jumped to 9.8 percent last month. As you can see from the chart, the White House claimed that if we enacted the so-called stimulus, the unemployment rate today would be about 7 percent. It’s never wise to over-interpret the meaning on a single […]
read more...I’m understandably fond of my video exposing the flaws of Keynesian stimulus theory, but I think my former intern has a great contribution to the debate with this new 5-minute mini-documentary. You may recognize Hiwa. She narrated a very popular video earlier this year on the nightmare of income-tax complexity.
read more...In the latest “Economics 101” video released today by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (CF&P), Hiwa Alaghebandian of the American Enterprise Institute punctures a common economic myth used by politicians to justify bigger government. The video, entitled “Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Economic Growth Causes Consumer Spending, Not the Other Way Around,” dispels the popular Keynesian notion that artificially boosting consumer spending can improve economic performance.
read more...A “bipartisan” task force recently unveiled a budget plan that includes lots of tax increases, but also has a one-year payroll tax holiday supposedly designed to boost the economy. In a debate with a former Bush Administration appointee on CNBC, I explain why this is a dumb way to try to boost growth. My Lima-beans-in-a-steakhouse […]
read more...When politicians and bureaucrats spend our money, they rarely demonstrate any concern about waste and fraud. Why be conscientious, after all, if you’re spending other people’s money – especially if your real goal is to buy votes and get campaign contributions by providing unearned wealth to well-connected insiders? I’ve always been more concerned about the […]
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