U.S. Economy

When the state is sued, liability ultimately falls upon the taxpayers, not the politicians and bureaucrats.

After the Great Depression hit, there was a general air in the United States and Europe that freedom hadn’t worked well. What we needed were strong leaders to manage and plan economies and societies.

And how they were worshiped—disgustingly so!

A new book by NYU Professor William Silber has just come out offering an explanation for

Boom-busts were a feature of markets. Under consumption caused the depression. WWII ended the Great Depression. All three Keynesian beliefs were inaccurate. Only the Austrian Business Cycle Theory got it right.

MSNBC runs a funny picture of the White House response to the news that economic growth is at a fou

It seems that the policy of transparency (transparent tampering) that Fed policy makers are striving to implement under the banner of achieving price stability might not be that good for the health of the economy. Also, it is a contradiction in terms to suggest that by means of manipulation of the price indexes and interest rates the Fed could somehow set the basis for the efficient allocation of resources and fulfill the role of an agent for economic growth.

It is only because we have a monstrous welfare/warfare state that the government "needs" to collect an income tax. The beginning of Clinton's presidency was not that long ago. The income tax can be abolished. It can be done quickly; it can be done painlessly — and it can be done for the benefit of the American taxpayer instead of the federal leviathan. Now that is real tax reform.

While many Americans were hungry and destitute, FDR ordered the slaughter of six million pigs and the destruction of ten million acres of cotton. Public-sector jobs created by the New Deal displaced or destroyed private-sector jobs. World War II didn’t end the Great Depression; a return to free-market activity after the war did.

If you subscribe to wsj.com, they are starting a new forum today, kicked off by Brad DeLong and Arnold Kling (of the Cato Institute).