An appropriate balance

Hillary Clinton has explained her view of economics: “I want to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market.”

That’s a bit vague so how about a stricter standard: the federal government can only be as large as the largest U.S. company. There are several ways to look at this, but in terms of sales, the winner is Chevron, with $207 billion. The federal budget is now $3 trillion. This imbalance needs correction!

NYT: Charity Begins in Washington

Yes, that’s an actual New York Times editorial headline: Charity Begins in Washington. Ever-increasing private philanthropy is actually a bad thing, says the Times, because it crowds out government spending. Why, those private philanthropists can just give money to whatever they want! Better to tax us and let Washington decide where that money will go. I know, that sounds like an unfair caricature, it sounds like parody... but, well, read the piece.

Fiscal Follies

Years of spending, inflating, taxing, and redistributing has left the US economy teetering on a recession that our best and brightest — meaning the ones who created this mess — claim requires a multibillion-dollar economic-relief package to quell fears, promote confidence, and spur recovery. And, one might add, to keep things calm past election time, which is the real purpose of this bipartisan proposal. It leaves you wondering about what happened to the 1990s boom, a credit-fueled expansion also influenced by a peace dividend. The end of the Cold War produced a floundering federal government that lost its rationalization to grow and found itself unsure of its purpose, thus promoting an era of relative peace and prosperity. Oh, how things changed in the 2000s, with new monsters to destroy and new justifications for centralized power!

The Trouble With Child Labor Laws

Let’s say you want your computer fixed or your software explained. You can shell out big bucks to the Geek Squad, or you can ask — but you can’t hire — a typical teenager, or even a preteen. Their experience with computers and the online world is vastly superior to that of most people over the age of 30. From the point of view of online technology, it is the young who rule. And yet they are professionally powerless: they are forbidden by law from earning wages from their expertise.

Repeal Child Labor Laws

I enjoyed writing this piece, and especially researching it. I had no idea how late it was when child labor laws became national. I didn’t know that the original agitation came from women’s textile unions. I had no idea that there were so many exceptions in the law (”wreath making”?). I also found that it was an oddly difficult case to make since most people just assume that without the laws, kids would be chained to rug looms or slaving for Wal-Mart.

Tax Rebates: Old Wine in Old Skins

Some 70 percent of economic growth over the past years was a result of consumption. Now that consumption is slowing down — with lower retail expenditure during the Christmas season and dropping charges to credit cards — a tax rebate will again fan consumption. It will not do a thing to increase savings, from which future investments can be made, writes Wolfgag Grassl. We all know by now that the way out of a recession is through the building of capital goods, not through the temporary fattening up of American retailers and Chinese manufacturers. Second, government can finance its largesse only by either raising taxes — if for political reasons not now, then in future years — or by borrowing even more. Already today, total public debt amounts to over $9 trillion, or two thirds of annual GDP. About 44 percent of it is owed to foreign entities. It will have to be paid back — whether through years of lower consumption, or domestic inflation, or a reduction in the external value of the dollar.

The Recycling Myth

Per Bylund deconstructs Sweden’s vast recycling machinery. This coercive recycling structure is set up in layers, where the consumer (”producer” of waste) gets to do most of the work of sorting, cleaning, and transporting the trash to collection centers. Government-appointed companies then empty the containers and transport the materials to regional centers where the trash is prepared for recycling. And then everything is transported to centralized recycling plants where the materials are prepared for reuse or burning. Finally what is left of the materials is sold to companies and individuals at subsidized prices so that they can make “environmentally friendly” choices. It is “energy saving” simply because government does not count the time and energy used by nine million people cleaning and sorting their trash.

Correcting Kinsley on Libertarianism

I have always liked Michael Kinsley, ever since he was the “liberal” on Crossfire. It’s true, sometimes I enjoyed reading or listening to him in the same way I like to play with a canker sore, but nonetheless, I like Kinsley. Far more than other commentators, Kinsley seems to really believe in what he’s writing, and to actually consider the views of his opponents.

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