In his inaugural address of 20 January 1949, President Truman announced what has since become the famous “Point Four”.
No sooner was this announced than the brains of Washington bureaucrats began to bubble with grandiose schemes for pouring still more of the American taxpayers’ money into foreign lands.
Henry Hazlitt (1894–1993) was a well-known journalist who wrote on economic affairs for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek, among many other publications. He is perhaps best known as the author of the classic, Economics in One Lesson (1946).
Contrary to age-old prejudices, the wealth of the rich is not the cause of the poverty of the poor, but helps to alleviate that poverty. No matter whether it is their intention or not, almost anything that the rich can legally do tends to help the poor.
The whole system of priorities, allocations, quotas, and licenses causes endless delays, keeps efficient concerns from expanding, and keeps inefficient concerns in business.
Antipoverty "strategies" like mandatory overtime pay, state-protected unionization, and opposition to labor-saving devices only serve to increase the cost of living for poor and rich alike.
Foundation for Economic Education, Irvington-On-Hudson, New York, 1950
