In an unhampered economy, we would measure economic progress by a need for fewer work hours and fewer jobs. In our mixed economy, it's impossible to say whether more jobs reflect an improving or a worsening economy.
Whenever government wants to raise taxes, it immediately threatens to cut the most popular government programs first, if it doesn't get its way. Thus, the governor of Louisiana says he'll cut LSU's football program.
For the Republican elites, it probably seemed like business as usual when the 2016 primary election started. But in a country where people are truly worried about their economic future, the old rules don't apply.
Imposing restrictions on trade is not a mere academic exercise. It requires government agents, courts, prisons, police, and the whole panoply of the punitive, coercive state. To oppose free trade is to support more jails, fines, regulations, and more.
It's vital to debunk promises of "free stuff" but we often concentrate too much on the "free," and not enough on the "stuff."
The consequences of our government’s rigged society are all around us, be it the increasing reliance on food stamps, a far reaching tax system, or the gratuitous examples of well-connected elites enriching themselves from state intervention.
Bernie Sanders has been compared to Ron Paul because both men have waged insurgent campaigns. But that is where the comparisons should end, as Sanders really just offers a ramped up version of the status quo.
Food stamps were near and all-time high in 2015. They remain high thanks to a weak economy and a large expansion of the program during the Bush and Obama years.
Contrary to the popular myth being passed around, three-fourths of Americans pay taxes on their income. It's a nearly inescapable flat tax on income known as the payroll tax. And it now generates nearly as much income for the Feds as the tax more commonly known as the "income tax."
Economists Akerlof and Shiller contend that people are too gullible and ignorant to be allowed to deal with a potentially deceptive marketplace on their own. The solution is to have the government manage the markets for them.
