Yes, they do. Federal pork depresses private investment. See, from Cato, Do Earmarks Crowd Out Local Private Investment? Earmarks are like a free package of seeds that turns out to be nothing but weeds, denying space for useful vegetables and attractive flowers.
Economy
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason.tv: Gov. Gary Johnson on His Economic Vision for “Our America”
by JOHN ADAMS •
From Reason.tv, here’s a half-hour presentation from former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on free market economic solutions for America. Here’s a description from Reason: On Tuesday, February 9, in the midst of one of the biggest snowstorms in recent Washington, D.C. memory, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and Harvard economist (and Reason contributor)…
Economy, Libertarians
From Cato@Liberty: “Six Reasons to Downsize the Federal Government”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute offers Six Reasons to Downsize the Federal Government, and by doing so, assure Americans more freedom and greater prosperity: 1. Additional federal spending transfers resources from the more productive private sector to the less productive public sector of the economy. 2. As federal spending rises, it creates pressure to…
Economy, Free Markets
Epoch Times — Capitalism: Passé or Neo-Classic?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Neo-Classic! From the story in the Epoch Times: The economy seems to be showing signs of recovery, but people’s faith in capitalism are being put to a test in face of tough challenges such as the current health care reform. Has capitalism stopped working for the U.S.? What is the cure for today’s troubled economy,…
Economy
Do We Really Want to Mimic Western Europe’s Stagnant Welfare States? – Cato @ Liberty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Less productive, growing more slowly over time, and more likely to fall back into recession – Western Europe is a bad example, not a model, for America. Only for those erroneously seeing an economy as a fixed pie could Western Europe’s redistribution schemes make any sense. See, Do We Really Want to Mimic Western Europe’s…
Economy
RealClearPolitics – Greece and the Welfare State in Ruins
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Libertarian Cato Institute Deservedly Named One of World’s Leading Think Tanks
by JOHN ADAMS •
Congratulations to the Cato Institute, named one of the leading policy institutes in the world, following a major academic survey. Libertarians have reason for confidence in their views in any event, but the policy scholars at Cato are admirably advancing ideas for “individual liberty, free markets, and peace.” Now you know, and I know, that…
Economy, Free Markets, Planning
Why the Slow Recovery? – Cato @ Liberty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy
Federal Deficit to Hit All-Time High
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Wall Street Journal, there’s a troubling story from Jonathan Weisman entitled, Deficit to Hit All-Time High. The situation is so alarming that a scholar from a left-leaning think tank is alarmed: Isabel Sawhill, a budget expert at the Brookings Institution, criticized the president’s goal – a deficit of 3% of GDP long…
Economy, Free Markets, Planning
Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Isn’t as Free as It Used to Be
by JOHN ADAMS •
No, it’s not, is it? The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world’s 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic…
Development, Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Reason: Luck and Virtue in America and Haiti
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason.com, Steve Chapman writes about the earthquake in Haiti, and about prosperity in America, in an article entitled, Luck and Virtue in America and Haiti: Understanding the impact of the Haitian earthquake. From his essay: I look after the trees in my yard, making sure they get water, checking them periodically for signs…
Economy, Free Markets, Planning
“Red-Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can’t Fix the New Government Perma-Crisis”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Economics21.org there’s a succinct, useful article on fiscal policies that simply won’t solve America’s economic problems. “Red-Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can’t Fix the New Government Perma-Crisis” is a useful reminder – a warning, really – of state and local government’s limitations. Here are the five “Strategies of Yesteryear that Won’t Work Today”:…
Economy, Free Markets, Libertarians
Rep. Paul Ryan on Business and Markets
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater, Wisconsin is divided between two congressional districts, one of which is served by Rep. Paul Ryan. The online Washington Examiner has a brief opinion piece called, “Paul Ryan’s Free-Market Populism.” The article mentions an essay that Ryan recently wrote for Forbes in which he decried the tendency of large corporations to seek government handouts…
Economy
Wisconsin: An Over-Taxed State
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s a smaller state, but she ranks in the top ten in property taxes, along with states with troubled economies like Illinois and California. The Wisconsin State Journal, in a story posted this afternoon, entitled, “Wisconsin ninth in median property taxes,” notes that “Wisconsin’s median real estate tax paid for 2008 was $2,963…” compared “…to…