In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Sara Murray reports that “Nearly Half of U.S Lives in Household Receiving Government Benefits.” The pool of Americans relying on government benefits rose to record highs last year as an increasing share of families tapped aid in a weak economy. Some 48.6% of the population lived…
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I could not resist posting this beautiful graph of the current state of the momentousness US debt. The graph is particularly useful for eyeballing the historical path of U.S. debt to GDP. Often pundits will say that our current debt-to-GDP ratio is not unreasonable because it is not too high relative to the period…
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In a very timely new article in The Weekly Standard, “The Ultimate Stimulus? World War Two and Economic Growth,” Arthur Herman refutes the Keynesian economics myth that Big Government spending during World War II ended the Great Depression. In so doing, he bases his analysis on the path-breaking work of Independent Institute Senior Fellow…
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Bloomberg BusinessWeek has identified the biggest risk in continuing today’s levels of deficit spending for the U.S. government: Barack Obama may lose the advantage of low borrowing costs as the U.S. Treasury Department says what it pays to service the national debt is poised to triple amid record budget deficits. Interest expense will rise…
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In his recent article in Investor’s Business Daily, “Uncertainty Continues To Depress Jobs,” Robert Higgs (Senior Fellow, The Independent Institute) discusses how the U.S. government’s interventionist and spending policies are prolonging high unemployment by creating a climate of massive economic uncertainty: President Obama, in his State of the Union address, promised to focus on…
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In a new article in the Wall Street Journal, “Why the Spending Stimulus Failed: New economic research shows why lower tax rates do far more to spur growth,” Stanford University economist Michael Boskin examines how and why the U.S.’s $814 billion economic stimulus has failed. For many years now, Independent Institute Senior Fellow Robert…
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Ken Rogoff on rising gold prices and public debt: “At $1,300, today�s price is probably more than double very long-term, inflation-adjusted, average gold prices. So what could justify another huge increase in gold prices from here? “One answer, of course, is a complete collapse of the U.S. dollar. With soaring deficits, and a rudderless…
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During the Great Depression, economist John Maynard Keynes recommended increasing federal government spending, financed by borrowing, to boost the U.S. economy. It didn�t matter how the new money was spent. If no better use could be found, Keynes suggested building pyramids. Keynes� theory that increased public spending would offset declines in consumer and business…
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In a new online poll by the Wall Street Journal, 82.2% of those participating are voting no to the question, “Can more government stimulus lower the nation’s unemployment rate?” As the article states: “Washington’s response to the country’s stubbornly high unemployment rate will depend in part on who wins an increasingly intense debate over…
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Regime uncertainty has gained increasing recognition as the current economic troubles have persisted with little or no improvement since the economy reached a cyclical trough early in 2009. As described in my 1997 paper, regime uncertainty pertains to “the likelihood that investors� private property rights in their capital and the income it yields will…
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