In The New Republic, Raghuram G. Rajan argues that income inequality is the real reason for the financial crash. Income inequality is one of the favorite themes of the left, but Rajan’s argument has some merit to it. He observes: Economists argue over the reasons for the growing inequality—changes in taxation, increasing trade, weaker unions, [...]
Carlos Watson argues that the solution to our fiscal problems is to tax the living daylights out of the “rich” in the hopes of making up for a $5 trillion hole in our national finances. That solution will not work. For one, there aren’t enough “rich” people to make up for the current deficit. We [...]
In The Spectator, Fraser Nelson has a searching piece on the myth that laissez-faire conservatives led to the current economic troubles: So while it’s a statement of the obvious, the obvious can’t be stated enough at a time when we’re fighting (or should be) for the future of capitalism and the open society. The last [...]
E.J. Dionne does what Democrats love to do, except when running for public office: call for a massive increase in American taxes. Again, he demonstrates the fundamental flaws in the Democratic understanding of basic economics: He’s right that a large share of any increase should hit those who enjoyed the biggest income gains over the [...]
President-Elect Obama has chosen to embrace some of the worst economic thinking in his recently announced economic recovery plan. The buzzword he’s following is “infrastructure”—and it’s a strategy that is doomed to fail. Reason‘s Nick Gillespie sarcastically looks at the plan: When the history of this awful moment of bailout hysteria is written, there’ll be [...]
Tags: creative destruction, Economics, Obama, recession, stimulus