HILLARY + TRUMP = ECONOMIC IGNORANCE
Donald Trump Turns To Herbert Hoover Economics, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Mr. Trump wants to “prime the pump with more spending and debt.” Spending financed by debt, both public and private, is what got us here in the first place. In the last 10 years the Fed printed over $4 trillion, and the Government took on $10 trillion in new debt. That’s enough pump priming don’t you think? The Keynsian Economic well has dry up. The simple answer is to allow free markets to work unencumbered by Government spending and Fed monetary expansion. Unfortunately nothing is simple when politicians and bureaucrats are involved in the decision making.
Hillary Clinton’s 5 Ideas To Fix The US Economy, at money.cnn.com. How does this sound. 1) Government spending on infrastructure, 2) debt free college, 3) “encourage” (force) companies to share profits with employees, 4) make the rich pay more in taxes, 5) raise the minimum wage. This is simply more spending and debt wrapped up in Christmas paper with a bow on top.
ECONOMIC REALITY
Bankster Flips Out: Says Japan’s Government Isn’t Doing Enough Keynsian Spending, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Decades of Keynsian stimulus by the Japanese Government isn’t enough? It is always the same answer to every economic problem more spending.
What Should The US Do If Other Countries Use Tariffs And Use Other Methods To Distort Trade, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Government intervention with free trade through tariffs, subsidies, and regulations harms the economy of the country that implements these policies. If other countries want to harm their economies with these policies; Why would we respond to such stupidity by implementing the same policies?
The Minimum Wage: Taking Away The Right To Work, by Roy Cordato, at mises.org. How many times does it have to be said: when a wage is set above what a particular job produces, that job will go away. Why do you think the number of private sector union workers has declined from 35% of the private sector work force, to just over 6% of the private sector work force since the 50’s. Unions priced themselves out of the market and the jobs went away. When it comes to raising the minimum wage, it is our benevolent politicians who are pricing low skill workers out of the work place. Political rhetoric is seen, workers losing their jobs are unseen.
Latest Jobs Data: The Worst expansion In 30 Years Continues, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. All the stimulus spending by government and the money printing by the Fed hasn’t worked as the planners planned. Until these two activities are stopped. This is the new normal.
Will The Bubble Pop Even If The Fed Never Raises Interest Rates, by Brendan Brown, at mises.org. We are in new territory. Does anyone know how this will end? No. But it will end with a lot of pain. All we know is, at some point the activities brought about by low interest rates and printed money will have to be liquidated.
Consumer Optimism Is Not The Key To Economic Growth, by Frank Shostak, at mises.org. As we have asked before; What Comes First, Production or Consumption? You can’t consume what isn’t produced. Stimulating spending puts the cart before the horse. As Mr. Schostak says, “Demand is limited by prior production. To put it differently, his demand if fully covered (i.e., funded by the bread that he has produced). demand therefore, cannot stand by itself and be independent: it is limited by prior production….”. Interest rates coordinate production across time. Interest rates set artificially by government send false information through process of production. As a result production and consumption are mismatched. This is where we are after a decade of the Fed’s monetary manipulation.
Venezuela Has But One Choice: Capitalism or Chaos, by Carmen Elena Dorobat, at mises.org. Here is a quote by Ludwig von Mises which sums up what every article in this post: “THE ISSUE IS ALWAYS THE SAME: THE GOVERNMENT OR THE MARKET. THERE IS NO THIRD SOLUTION.”