Posted tagged ‘Government spending’

Must Reads For The Week 8/11/18

August 12, 2018

US Spending On Interest Hits All Time High As Budget Deficit Soars To $684 Billion, at zerohedge.com. Government spending and debt go up no matter which party is in control. The government confiscates over $4 trillion a year from the real economy. You would think that would be enough money to run are government, but you would be wrong. The problem is government spends too much. Government’s ability to borrow and print money allows it to fund its growth above what it can confiscate from its citizens in taxes. Our debt will never get paid off unless government spending is cut. What are the chances of that?

Scientist Blast Media “Misinformation” Linking Wildfires To Global Warming, at zerohedge.com. Environmentalists and their accomplices in the media blame global warming for everything. In this case it is wildfires. If you dig a little deeper into the issue you will find other factors could be possible causes of these fires. Global warming has all the trappings of science without all the rigor. Here is another article about the wildfires. You decide. Destructive Forest Fires Are Do To – What? by Paul Driessen at townhall.com.

New York City Approves Cap On The Number of Uber And Other App Based Companies, at zerohedge.com. Does the NY Taxi and Limousine commission ever consider the fact that their previous restrictions on the number of taxi medallions (licenses), was the reason for the artificial rise in the price of one medallion to over $1 million. This artificially high price created the conditions for Uber and other ride-sharing apps to enter the market. The bubble price of over $1million for a medallion has collapsed to under $200 thousand. Why?  Because the ride sharing apps could provide cheaper and better service. The market eventually corrected the artificial bubble price for taxi services, by allowing unforseen competitors to compete for market share. Simple supply and demand tells us that restricting the number of Uber, and other ride sharing drivers, will increase the price consumer will have to pay for rides. When you restrict supply the price moves higher. Read about the history of NY taxi monopoly in this article, ‘CAR WARS’ Return Of The Jitneys, at austrianaddict.com.

Visualizing The Print-pocalypse Of American Newspapers, at zerohedge.com. This is an example of the creative destruction of the market. The internet has changed the way we get information. Do you think news papers like the NY Times will ask for a government bailout on the basis that they are protected by the first amendment?

Worlds Biggest Toilet-Building Spree Is Under Way In India, by P.R. Sanjai, at bloomberg.com. We take the flush toilet for granted. While San Francisco is literally turning into a $#!t hole (read here), India is making a push to install more toilets. Excerpt from the article: “India accounts for more than half of the world’s 1.1 billion people who practice open defecation. Open defecation contaminates food and drinking water, and spreads diarrheal diseases that cause chronic malnutrition and childhood stunting. India’s push for more toilets is the biggest, most successful behavior-changing campaign in the world,” Many U.S cities, like S.F., are allowing open defecation. What are city leaders thinking?

Mob Targets Portland ICE Workers, Police Ignore Calls For Help – Under The mayor’s Orders, at theblaze.com. This is an example of the break down of the rule of law. The mayor allowed this siege to go on for 38 days. The mayor’s fidelity to his job was overridden by his politics. It is hard to believe this went on in the US. Or is it?

Angry White Atifa Mob Attacks Black Social Activist, Shouts, F^*+ White Supremacy!, at theblaze.com. They are shouting F^*+ your white supremacy to Candice Owens! Can anyone relate to the actions of the people in this mob? Let them keep doing things like this. It does nothing to help their cause. Whatever that cause is.

Federal Judge Rules That Albuquerque’s Asset Forfeiture Created An Unconstitutional Profit Incentive, at reason.com. Is anyone shocked that police would react this way to the incentives created by asset forfeiture laws?

Colleges Offer To Take Percentage Of Future Income As Alternative To Student Loans, at zerohedge.com. Students who got hooked into student loan debt now have a choice. Heads they win, tails I lose.

“Free, Independent” Boston Paper Urges Collusive National Media ‘War’ Against Trump, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Marjorie Pritchard, who oversees the Boston Globe’s editorial page, said the decision to seek the coordinated response from newspapers was reached after Trump appeared to step up his rhetoric in recent weeks. “I hope it would educate readers to realize that an attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable,” she said. “We are a free and independent press, it is one of the most sacred principles enshrined in the Constitution.”

Does a free and independent news paper collude with other free and independent news papers? The press wraps themselves in the First Amendment. I bet most journalists have probably never read the first amendment.

Here is the First Amendment: “CONGRESS shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

One quick question. Does freedom of the press rank behind freedom of religion and freedom of speech in importance because it is listed third in the First Amendment?

This amendment doesn’t protect the press from criticism. Every citizen, including the President, has the right of free speech. Every citizen, including the President, can criticize the press. Most citizens don’t have a big enough platform for the press to even worry about when criticized. But the President has a big platform if he so chooses to use it. The press has their panties in a wad because they have always been able to bully Republican Presidents. Trump doesn’t play that game, and the press doesn’t know how to deal with someone who stands up to their bullying. Although the press thinks that Trump is the bully and they are standing up to him. It will be interesting to see how this street fight turns out. Because Trump shows no signs of backing down from this fight and the press doesn’t seem to know how to handle it.

West Hollywood Passed Resolution To Remove Trump’s Star On Walk Of Fame, at zerohedge.com. Did they vote to get rid of Bill Cosby’s star?

500+ Renowned Scientists Jointly Share Why They Reject Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, by Arjun Walia, at lewrockwell.com. Darwin’s theory is not standing the test of the passage of time.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES.

Che Guevara Honored With Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame, at thebabaylonbee.com. Mass murderer Che is lionized by the left.

Liberals Remind Nation Satire Only OK When Mocking Conservatives, at thebabaylonbee.com. This is how the rules of the political game used to be. No more.

World Health Organization Warns Against Eating Fish and Keeping Active Following Death Of World’s Oldest Woman, at theonion.com. Correlation is not causation.

Millennial Drops Support For Socialism After Learning How Hard It Is To Ge Avocado Toast In Venezuela, at thebabaylonbee.com. Socialism is only cool when it hurts someone else.

CNN To Launch Real News Spinoff Site, at thebabaylonbee.com. No comment necessary.

CARTOONS

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Must Reads For The Week 10/23/15

October 24, 2015

A Challenge To The GOP From Bernie Sanders: Put Up Our Shut Up On Capitalism, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.org. Sanders is correct for wanting reporters to ask Republicans: ‘are you a capitalist’. Socialism is government ownership of the means of production. Sanders and Hillary don’t want socialism. They want government intervention, redistribution and crony socialism. Capitalism is private ownership of the means of production. Republicans candidates think they want capitalism. But what they propose is varying degrees of government intervention, redistribution, and crony capitalism. It’s going to take decades of elections to replace politicians who have this mindset with people who understand free markets and liberty. Inch by inch.

Sanders, Trump, and John Maynard Keynes, by Hunter Lewis, mises.org. Sanders thinks our current Keynesian crony capitalist system is capitalism. Trump thinks our current Keynesian crony capitalist system is socialism. Their cure is more government intervention in different ways. Sanders wants redistribution of wealth, and Trump wants a mercantilist attitude about trade.

Donald Trump’s Contempt For The Free Market, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Trump wants to stop Ford from building an auto plant in Mexico by putting a tariff on the goods Ford will bring in from Mexico. Government regulations and taxes incentivized Ford to move the plant. So instead of using more Government force to create different incentives, why not get rid of the regulations and taxes that produced the original incentives?

My Letter To The NY Times re: My Advice To The ECB And The Fed, by Patrick Barron, at patrickbarronblog.blogspot.com. Excerpt from the article. “If the Fed wishes to prevent financial crises, it only needs to stop initiating them. The Fed’s hubris that it can fathom the proper interest rate for our vast and complex economy must rank among the greatest fallacies of all time. The Fed sees the world through the completely discredited Keynesian lens which posits that aggregate demand–what the rest of us know simply as spending–is the path to prosperity. Anyone who believes this nonsense need ask himself why he has not liquidated his own savings on frivolous consumption…

Global Stocks Soar On Surprise China Rate Cut, by David Gaffen, at reuters.com. Is anyone shocked that global stock markets soared when China’s central bank cut interest rates and the European central bank said they will increase the size of its quantitative easing (electronically printing counterfeit money) program? How strong is the world economy when the central banks of China, Europe, and the U.S. have to lower interest rates and print money to keep it afloat?

The Cronies: Half Of All Export-Import Bank Benefits Go To 10 Companies, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Exim Bank, backed by your tax dollars, finances transactions so foreign customers can buy from American companies. These are transactions that private banks wouldn’t make because of the commercial and political risks inherent in these deals. It’s easier to be risky when it isn’t your money. By the way, does this seem like a money laundering scheme?

A Tax I Can Support, by Per Byland, at mises.org. This just might work. Unfortunately politicians would never pass it.

Justin Trudeau Elected Canada’s Prime Minister; Young Liberal Star Compared To Obama, at mercurynews.com. How could this happen? Were Canadian citizens not aware of what has been going on South of their border over the last seven years? Oh wait! What about this article? Obama Campaign Team Hands Canada Over To Lib-Left, at canacafreepress.com.

Is The New Higher Seattle Minimum Wage Destroying Restaurant Jobs In Seattle? at economicpolicyjournal.com. The answer is yes. Because the law of supply and demand states: Less is demanded at a higher price. This includes labor.

Actors In Los Angeles File Lawsuit Against Actors’ Equity Over Wage Hike, at latimes.com. I guess a minimum wage increase is only cool when it doesn’t affect you.

Michigan Governor Signs Bills Reforming Civil Asset Forfeiture, theoaklandpress.com. Some good news for liberty.

Rhonda Rousey Shuts Down Feminist.

There’s a difference between merit and value. You don’t get payed for how hard you work. You get paid for the value you produce. Who works harder; a man with a shovel digging a ditch, or a man on a backhoe digging a ditch? It doesn’t matter. The real question is; who produces the most value?

 

Wealth Can’t Be Redistributed If It Doesn’t Exist!

June 25, 2015

The simple concept that production comes before consumption must not be as simple to understand as I think. Since before the tech bubble popped in 2000, our Government and the Federal Reserve have tried to spend, and electronically print, our way to prosperity. Government spending and money printing are not just consumption activities, they also work to distort the production process. We have been consuming more than we have been producing for about a decade or more. We have essentially been eating our seed corn.

Government’s wealth distribution policies are put forth by politicians as charitable activities. But, since Government doesn’t produce anything, it must first confiscate what it redistributes. That is theft not charity.

Here are three short articles from Mises.org that address the above topic.

1)  Technology Needs Capital To Produce Economic Growth, by Frank Shostak. Here are some excerpts from the article.

“Most modern theories that emphasize the importance of new ideas and new technologies give the impression that these ideas and technologies have a “life of their own.” Many experts hold that because of the limited amounts of capital and labor, without technological progress, the opportunities for growth will eventually run out.”

“So regardless of how clever we are and regardless of various technological ideas, without an adequate pool of funding nothing will emerge. It is through the expansion in the pool of real savings that an increase in the stock of capital goods is possible. And it is the increase in the capital goods per worker that permits economic growth to emerge.”

2)  Wealth Must Be Created Before We Give It To The Poor, by Steve Patterson. Here are some excerpts from the article.

“Charity is seen as ethically superior to business. After all, what could make a greater impact on the world than giving to the needy?”

“This view of the world is shortsighted. While it’s true that charity helps people, business makes a far greater contribution to humanity. Virtually all of the increases in society’s standard of living are because of simple commerce, and it’s the poor, in particular, who benefit the most…”

“In the developed world, it’s easy to forget that poverty is the default state of human existence. Wealth is not found in nature; it must be created, and this is precisely the role of businesses and entrepreneurs. They are the force which takes us out of the state of nature. All cases of poverty have the same solution — not wealth distribution, but wealth creation. This is not merely a theoretical argument. It’s witnessed everywhere around the globe.”

“… Not everybody has the skills necessary to create a new invention or become a successful businessman. But that doesn’t preclude them from making a positive difference in the world. However, we should be realistic: a donation of furniture to Goodwill does not create the same ripple effect as selling affordable food or power tools to everyone.”

“Many economic truths work this way. We’re quick to praise what’s easily seen…… but we overlook or even condemn what happens behind the scenes….. The farmer, the butcher, the truck driver, the cook, the engineer, and the businessman should also be praised for their work. Without them, there would be no surplus food for the charity worker to give away.

3) Let’s Hope Machines Take Our Jobs: We Want Wealth Not Jobs, by Peter St. Onge.

When we use technology and machines to become more productive it destroys jobs, and this is a good thing. This article explains this abstract concept that I have found to be difficult to get people to understand. The article starts with the thought experiment that a machine is created that is capable of producing everything with a push of a button. Its creation puts a lot of people out of work. Now what happens? Read the article it will make you think which is a good thing.

Related ArticleWhat Comes First, Production Or Consumption, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleCapital Consumption, aka Eating Our Seed Corn, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleReal Savings = True Credit, Printed Savings = False Credit, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleProducing Capital Goods, Requires Restricting Present Consumption, at austrianaddict.com

Related ArticleWhy Do People Think The Government Is The Economy? at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleEntrepreneurship Can Be A Stinky Business, at austrianaddict.com.

A Keynesians Dream, Cruise Missile Strikes In Syria.

September 6, 2013
A Raytheon Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile du...

A Raytheon Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile during a U.S. Navy flight test at NAWS China Lake, California (Nov. 10, 2002) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

THE KEYNESIAN MAGIC OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING

If we believe Keynesian economics, cruise missile strikes will help our economy, and the Syrian economy. First let’s look at how it is supposed to help our economy. By launching a couple hundred cruise missiles at roughly $1 million a pop, the Government will have to spend over $200 million to replace the missiles that are consumed in the attacks. Cruise missile maker Raytheon will be the beneficiary of the spending as they will get paid to produce at least 200 cruise missiles. Raytheon’s employees, stock holders, and the companies who supply parts to Raytheon, for these missiles, will have more money to spend, and as the money circulates through the economy it will stimulate even more consumption. As we all know consumption drives the economy, and if we can stimulate consumption through government spending there will be never-ending economic growth.

The same basic principle is in play as we look at how the Syrian economy will be helped by our cruise missile strikes. What ever our cruise missiles destroy, has to be replaced, whether it is buildings, vehicles, military equipment, and yes even the chemical weapons. Part of the collateral damage will be people, but if you look at it unemotionally, employment will improve because unemployed people will have to take the place of the employed who died. Employment will also improve as people will have to be employed to rebuild what was destroyed by the cruise missile strikes. Since Government only spends on important projects, for the common good, and the private sector spending is for frivolous things that individuals desire, our targeting of Government property will have an optimal stimulative effect for the Syrian economy.

We are consuming missiles when we launch them, and as we know consumption grows the economy. We could be selfish and create a stimulative effect for our economy only, if we launched these missiles into the ocean or a deserted place on the globe, but we are creating a secondary stimulative effect by dropping these missiles on real things. Fortunately for the Syrians we are targeting them, we could have chosen numerous other countries to stimulate with our cruise missile strikes. (more…)

Is The Economy Improving? It Depends On How You Define Improving.

August 20, 2013
Real GDP Contracts Most in 27 Years

Real GDP Contracts Most in 27 Years (Photo credit: inspecie.co.uk)

QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

We keep hearing  from the administration, and the media, that the economy is slowly improving. They cite unemployment data and GDP data to back this assertion, hoping we won’t dig below the surface in search of the truth hidden in the numbers. How you arrive at the specific numbers, is more important than the numbers themselves. Here’s an example. The environmentalists try to prove global warming by using a vaguely defined  point in the past, and comparing it to this years, or this decades, temperature. If you let me pick the year to be used in the comparison, I could prove global cooling. All I’d have to do is pick a year that was hotter than this year. If you can pick the starting point in a  comparison, you can make the data say whatever you want it to say. This is just one sleight of hand trick that politicians, the elites, and the media use in an attempt to shape our opinion, and move it toward their desired outcome. You have to have a definable standard for a comparison to be made. If the standard can be manipulated, comparisons are meaningless. When they say the economy is improving, we have to ask, “compared to what”. Normally the economy is judged to be improving if (more…)

We Are Reaching The Tipping Point.

February 20, 2013
Teeter Totter

Teeter Totter (Photo credit: lambdachialpha)

Consumption is starting to over take production as these charts show. Government spending is an exchange of confiscated, borrowed, or counterfeited dollars for a good or service that has been produced. These dollars represent certificates of purchase that can be exchanged for anything produced in the market. Legal tender laws decree that these dollars have to be accepted for all debts, public or private. The Fed has a legal monopoly on money production, and the fact that the Fed has counterfeited 3 trillion plus dollars since 2008 means that they have stolen 3 trillion dollars worth of goods and services from the private sector over the last four years. (more…)

What Comes First, Production Or Consumption.

November 20, 2012
Kindof a visual pun that I've illustrated...

Kindof a visual pun. Which came first?  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What drives the economy, supply of or demand for goods and services. Does the economy grow because we consume more or can we consume more because the economy grows. This article by Mark Skousen title, “Consumer Spending Doesn’t Drive The Economy, Investment Does”,   explains the public’s perceived chicken or egg conundrum about production or consumption. This is not a puzzling question at all, the answer is very logical and easy to understand. Consumption happens at the end of the production process. You can’t consume something that does not yet exist, and the only way a consumer’s good can exist is if someone produces it. Production is the act of creating wealth, while consumption is (more…)