Germany's biggest economic troubles trace to Otto von Bismarck, who conceived of a system of social security for the industrial workers in the late 19th century. His goal was to bring them under the control of the State. It was first during World War I and its aftermath and under the Third Reich in the 1930s when the welfare state experienced its greatest expansions.
People can feel socially secure in Denmark—at least for now. People don't get rich from welfare but they can live a comfortable life. Practically all people are eligible for one program or another. But it is not sustainable in the long run. At some point, the trough will be empty. Per Henrik Hansen explains.
Despite the Media Campaign's consistently poor performance, lawmakers are nonetheless set to refund the anti-drug ad program with a new five-year appropriation, which includes a $90 million funding boost! Nevertheless, it's painfully apparent that the public isn't buying what the government is selling.
Government cannot create something from nothing. But the premise of universal health care is that the government can bestow benefits upon members of society that it had not created for itself. It imposes on the economic body something that did not come from within its own means, or by its own choice, meaning the choices of the many individuals that make up the economy.
There is no such thing as "good government," if we think of that phrase as representing a government that serves the public essential goods without regard to self interest. All government activities are deeply tainted. "Homeland Security," says Lew Rockwell, is only the most recent example.
When assessing the costs of the war in Iraq, the full costs, including the costs on the home front, must be considered every bit as much as the money costs. Sadly, the most expensive aspects of war, especially in terms of lost liberties and cultural decline, are usually the hardest to measure, and are therefore more easily ignored.
The September 11th attacks hit no industry more directly than they did the airline industry. In 2001, this industry lost 8 billion dollars. It lost 9 billion in 2002, two thirds of which supposedly derived from 9-11. The Federal government has delivered 5 billion dollars in cash and 10 billion in loan guarantees to airlines affected by 9-11. This massive infusion of money and credit has yet to satisfy the appetites of airline executives.
Almost exactly ten years ago, a National Commission on Social Security Reform headed by Greenspan proposed a package of benefit cuts and tax increases, which Congress enacted with little change, and which turned out to be one of the most oppressive—and underhanded—things Congress ever did to younger Americans over Social Security. It also failed to solve Social Security's long-term problems.
Numbers never lie. Or do they? With government, it's simply a matter of who's keeping the books. Take America's so-called war on drugs, for instance. Last year, Congress earmarked nearly $19 billion—nearly twice what it spent on military operations in Afghanistan—to enforce U.S. drug laws.
How does the public sector decide that it is a good idea to explore space instead of spending the time, resources, and talent on other scientific explorations or, for that matter, some other area like building a road? Tibor Machan, for example, likes the idea of ocean living but few seem to agree with him.
