Though news coverage of Enron has evaporated, its aftereffects remain. This supposed crisis led to an expansion of leviathan in the form of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Unfortunately, the high costs of this act are not getting anywhere near as much coverage as the 'crisis' that fueled support for it.
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.
With growing government outlays and the Fed's reckless monetary policies, it is mission impossible to have an effective cut in taxes, argues Frank Shostak. That the intention is to grow rather than shrink the size of the government was demonstrated by President Bush's signing the increase in the Federal debt limit from $6.4 trillion to $7.384 trillion on the day he signed into law the tax cuts.
Last week the Peach State continued to buck the national trend. By a vote of 127 to 47, the Georgia House of Representatives defeated Governor Sonny Perdue's proposal to raise the state's tax on cigarettes from 12¢ per pack to 58¢ per pack.
Spending is based on what government "taxes" but also on what government borrows and inflates. It's quite simple. If government spends it, we can't spend or save or invest, and that's bad. As Murray Rothbard explained, deficit spending leads either to inflation or to crowding out private capital investment. Either horn of the dilemma reduces wealth.
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.
Foreign aid seems to many as the only answer for Iraq's shattered economy. Judging on the historical record of foreign aid, however, Iraq is in for a long, tumultuous ride. Because foreign aid is welfare for governments, the Iraqi project's success will largely depend on how little aid is given.
