--PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9 , 2009
Really?
From the CATO Institute:
President Obama says that "economists from across the political spectrum agree" on the need for massive government spending to stimulate the economy. In fact, many economists disagree. Hundreds of them, including Nobel laureates and other prominent scholars, have signed the statement that appears in the Cato Institute's ad in the New York Times, Washington Post, and in other national publications.
Text of full page ad
"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy."
--PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9 , 2009
With all due respect Mr.President, that is not true.
Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.
Over 300 leading economists, including 3 Nobel Laureates, signed the statement.
Obama is wrong to claim that "everyone" agrees with him.
He obviously hasn't been listening.
So your point is that FOX news and the CATO institute are NOT partisan?
ReplyDeleteNot a word from your blog against the bank bailout last year except for criticizing the Democratic legislators who opposed it.
ReplyDeleteNow a Democratic President is all wrong with proposing a bailout that has a chance of actually helping American citizens in real need.
Cynical hypocrisy at its very worst. Keep preaching to the choir. I'll try to keep from laughing too much.
No, that's not my point, though it's true that the CATO Institute is a non-partisan group and FOX News is far less partisan than Dem hack outlets like NBC.
ReplyDeleteSince the majority of CATO people claims as economists only have masters, and the majority with PHDS agree with OBAMA I think CATO is on the wrong track here. Your argument that FOX is far less partison is crazy. Remember the baby mama joke, or the terrorists fist bump comments. Fox is a joke. BTW Cato is partison it is a conservative think tank, hence partisan. you must be drinking.
ReplyDeleteHow to Label Cato
ReplyDeleteToday, those who subscribe to the principles of the American Revolution--individual liberty, limited government, the free market, and the rule of law--call themselves by a variety of terms, including conservative, libertarian, classical liberal, and liberal. We see problems with all of those terms. "Conservative" smacks of an unwillingness to change, of a desire to preserve the status quo. Only in America do people seem to refer to free-market capitalism--the most progressive, dynamic, and ever-changing system the world has ever known--as conservative. Additionally, many contemporary American conservatives favor state intervention in some areas, most notably in trade and into our private lives.
"Classical liberal" is a bit closer to the mark, but the word "classical" connotes a backward-looking philosophy.
Finally, "liberal" may well be the perfect word in most of the world--the liberals in societies from China to Iran to South Africa to Argentina are supporters of human rights and free markets--but its meaning has clearly been corrupted by contemporary American liberals.
The Jeffersonian philosophy that animates Cato's work has increasingly come to be called "libertarianism" or "market liberalism." It combines an appreciation for entrepreneurship, the market process, and lower taxes with strict respect for civil liberties and skepticism about the benefits of both the welfare state and foreign military adventurism.
The market-liberal vision brings the wisdom of the American Founders to bear on the problems of today. As did the Founders, it looks to the future with optimism and excitement, eager to discover what great things women and men will do in the coming century. Market liberals appreciate the complexity of a great society, they recognize that socialism and government planning are just too clumsy for the modern world. It is--or used to be--the conventional wisdom that a more complex society needs more government, but the truth is just the opposite. The simpler the society, the less damage government planning does. Planning is cumbersome in an agricultural society, costly in an industrial economy, and impossible in the information age. Today collectivism and planning are outmoded and backward, a drag on social progress.
Market liberals have a cosmopolitan, inclusive vision for society. We reject the bashing of gays, China, rich people, and immigrants that contemporary liberals and conservatives seem to think addresses society's problems. We applaud the liberation of blacks and women from the statist restrictions that for so long kept them out of the economic mainstream. Our greatest challenge today is to extend the promise of political freedom and economic opportunity to those who are still denied it, in our own country and around the world.
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to my second comment from earlier this afternoon pointing out the hypocrisy of your criticism of Democratic legislators who voted against the unregulated bank bailout give- away last fall and your opposition to this bailout that may have a chance of helping us little people stay in our homes and feed or children for a few more weeks?
Too much truthiness for you?
I'd just like to buy a new storm door to save on fuel, not an $87K carpet for my office.
non quixote,
ReplyDeleteYour second comment didn't show up in my e-mail inbox. I have no idea why that happened. Blame Blogger or my e-mail.
I did find it on my Blogger account "comment moderation" page.
So there it is.
Thanks for pointing out the problem.