Showing posts with label F.A. Hayek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F.A. Hayek. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
Beck on Hayek
Mr. Beck hits a homerun in my estimation by hailing F.A. Hayek and "The Road to Serfdom."
Friday, June 11, 2010
More on government failure
1) The number one book on Amazon is written by an economist. Thank you, Glenn Beck!
2) The Treasury reports that U.S. debt will rise to 19.6 trillion by 2015; someone should alert congress.
3) The Congressional Budget Office has tacked on another $115 billion to ObamaCare. That brings the total cost to more than $1 trillion in the first ten years
4) Gold continues to hit new highs.
5) Strict European and federal requirements failed to spot cadmium in Shrek glasses. What else can’t they spot that could kill us?
6) A little hysteria and a vocal minority goes a long way. Federal officials now want to ban peanuts on airplanes. They might as well ban everything on board since there is bound to be at least one person or group that is allergic to something. Are you feeling safe yet?
2) The Treasury reports that U.S. debt will rise to 19.6 trillion by 2015; someone should alert congress.
3) The Congressional Budget Office has tacked on another $115 billion to ObamaCare. That brings the total cost to more than $1 trillion in the first ten years
4) Gold continues to hit new highs.
5) Strict European and federal requirements failed to spot cadmium in Shrek glasses. What else can’t they spot that could kill us?
6) A little hysteria and a vocal minority goes a long way. Federal officials now want to ban peanuts on airplanes. They might as well ban everything on board since there is bound to be at least one person or group that is allergic to something. Are you feeling safe yet?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
We could all use less Keynes and more Hayek
Dick Armey writes in the WSJ:
It's clear why Keynes's popularity endures in Congress. Intellectual cover for a spending spree will always be appreciated there. But it's harder to see any justification for the perverse form of fiscal child abuse that heaps massive debts on future generations...
Of course, despite Mr. Obama's campaign promises to adhere to "Pay As You Go" budgeting, no one seems terribly worried about paying for what will likely be a trillion-dollar stimulus package. What everyone should agree on is that the money has to come from somewhere, either through higher taxes, borrowing or printing...
If the government borrows the money for the stimulus, then it will either have to print money later or raise taxes to pay it back. If the government raises taxes to pay for the stimulus, it will, in effect, be robbing Peter to pay Paul. If the government prints the money, it will increase inflation, which will decrease the value of the dollar. That would, in effect, rob Paul to pay Paul back with devalued currency...
Taking money out of the private economy -- either through taxes or inflation -- and spending it in a way that doesn't offset the loss of money with real economic gains is worse than doing nothing...
There is no way around it; this stimulus bomb is going to create inflation like nobody's business and it will do little to move the economy forward.
It's clear why Keynes's popularity endures in Congress. Intellectual cover for a spending spree will always be appreciated there. But it's harder to see any justification for the perverse form of fiscal child abuse that heaps massive debts on future generations...
Of course, despite Mr. Obama's campaign promises to adhere to "Pay As You Go" budgeting, no one seems terribly worried about paying for what will likely be a trillion-dollar stimulus package. What everyone should agree on is that the money has to come from somewhere, either through higher taxes, borrowing or printing...
If the government borrows the money for the stimulus, then it will either have to print money later or raise taxes to pay it back. If the government raises taxes to pay for the stimulus, it will, in effect, be robbing Peter to pay Paul. If the government prints the money, it will increase inflation, which will decrease the value of the dollar. That would, in effect, rob Paul to pay Paul back with devalued currency...
Taking money out of the private economy -- either through taxes or inflation -- and spending it in a way that doesn't offset the loss of money with real economic gains is worse than doing nothing...
There is no way around it; this stimulus bomb is going to create inflation like nobody's business and it will do little to move the economy forward.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Obama and the Democrats use a crisis to implement their economic plan
Eat your heart out Naomi Klein. Here is an excerpt from Obama's speech today at George Mason University. George Mason must have been spinning in his grave:
It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy – where a lack of spending leads to lost jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend and borrow stops growth and leads to even less credit.
To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.
To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized. This will cut waste, eliminate red tape, and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests. But it just won’t save billions of dollars and thousands of jobs – it will save lives by reducing the deadly but preventable medical errors that pervade our health care system.
Finally, this recovery and reinvestment plan will provide immediate relief to states, workers, and families who are bearing the brunt of this recession. To get people spending again, 95% of working families will receive a $1,000 tax cut – the first stage of a middle-class tax cut that I promised during the campaign and will include in our next budget. To help Americans who have lost their jobs and can’t find new ones, we’ll continue the bipartisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage to help them through this crisis. Government at every level will have to tighten its belt, but we’ll help struggling states avoid harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility and use the money to maintain essential services like police, fire, education, and health care.
Comment: My first thought after listening to this speech was how much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take to pay for it? With the "Boomer" generation getting ready to retire in great numbers over the next several years or so, social security and Medicare are going to be put to the test. Adding the so-called "Recovery and Reinvestment plan" and the myraid of other government implemented plans Obama spoke of during this speech may end up just as similiar government plans did during the Great Depression.
It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy – where a lack of spending leads to lost jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend and borrow stops growth and leads to even less credit.
To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.
To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized. This will cut waste, eliminate red tape, and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests. But it just won’t save billions of dollars and thousands of jobs – it will save lives by reducing the deadly but preventable medical errors that pervade our health care system.
Finally, this recovery and reinvestment plan will provide immediate relief to states, workers, and families who are bearing the brunt of this recession. To get people spending again, 95% of working families will receive a $1,000 tax cut – the first stage of a middle-class tax cut that I promised during the campaign and will include in our next budget. To help Americans who have lost their jobs and can’t find new ones, we’ll continue the bipartisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage to help them through this crisis. Government at every level will have to tighten its belt, but we’ll help struggling states avoid harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility and use the money to maintain essential services like police, fire, education, and health care.
Comment: My first thought after listening to this speech was how much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take to pay for it? With the "Boomer" generation getting ready to retire in great numbers over the next several years or so, social security and Medicare are going to be put to the test. Adding the so-called "Recovery and Reinvestment plan" and the myraid of other government implemented plans Obama spoke of during this speech may end up just as similiar government plans did during the Great Depression.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics
If you have missed John Stossel's excellent program "Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics," you can go over to The Economist's Cookbook and watch all six segments. Stossel does a good job of explaining "spontaneous order" and also dissecting the real causes, not just what the main media says, of the housing/financial crisis. It's worth your time.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
John Stossel on government promises
Politicians tell us what we want to hear and like wet lemmings we make our way to voting booths and pull levers accordingly. But the reality is that more depends and is accomplished on the spontaneous order of a free society than any government or politician.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Pencils, Price Gouging, and Politics
I posted a comment on “price gouging” just yesterday and
Sunday, August 10, 2008
On economic and social justice
The Bobo Files has a very interesting post on the current mind-set of a very large group of people in our country that want to move towards a larger redistributive system because they feel it will lead to greater economic and social justice. The post also outlines thinkers like Milton Friedman, Robert Nozick, F.A. Hayek, and others who have influenced modern economics and social politics via free-market capitalism.
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