The Upside of Government Default
There is a good chance that the
U.S. government will be forced to default on its explicit and implicit
promises within the next few decades. Fortunately, the state government
experience of the 1840s suggests that this may provide the best and most
durable long-run solution.
Few now doubt that the U.S. government is rushing
headlong toward a major fiscal crisis. An outright default by the U.S.
government on Treasury securities looks increasingly likely. Most
automatically conclude that such an outcome would be catastrophic. But
one striking historical case, from the early history of the United
States, dramatically contradicts this common presupposition. Indeed, it
suggests that, in the long run, default can usher in such desirable
results as decreasing government intervention and expanding prosperity.
The case involves not the default of the national government but of
several state governments in the 1840s.How Taxing the Rich Harms the Middle Class
‘Rich corporations’ don’t pay taxes. Workers do.
President Obama’s budget speech on Monday expanded on
the theme of economic “fairness,” like his State of the Union speech in
January. He lectured Americans that if critical steps are not taken, the
rise of the middle class will be threatened and disparities between the
rich and the rest will continue to grow. A general theme was that
taxing the rich would get us a long way towards reducing income
inequality. This may be why President Obama failed to extend the promise
he made last year to fight for corporate tax reform. Why lower tax
rates on “rich” corporations if inequality is what really matters?Bitter Sweet: How Big Sugar Robs You
That Valentine’s Day hand on your back pocket billfold is not your sweetheart’s, it’s the sugar lobby’s.
For decades, sugar beet and sugar cane farmers and
processors have been the beneficiaries of a sugar program that
stealthily drives up sugar costs—and, consequently, the cost of that
heart-shaped box of chocolates. Over the past 30 years, the annual
burden on U.S. consumers has averaged over $3 billion in higher food
prices.Blood Diamonds Are Mugabe’s Best Friend
The Kimberly Process has become a whitewash; Roger Bate reports from Africa.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa—Between 2000 and 2008, Zimbabwe collapsed.The confiscation of white-owned farms precipitated the destruction of its economy; mad monetary policies led to the worst hyperinflation in Africa’s history; politically manipulated food distribution caused malnutrition; and, with woeful sanitation infrastructure, the already-weakened population succumbed to a cholera epidemic, plunging life expectancy to 35 years of age.
US: Growing risk posed by Iran-Venezuela axis – by Sen. Richard Lugar
US: Obama is America’s Lenin – by Jeffrey T. Kuhner
US: That jobs thing sure didn’t last long – by Paul Driessen
President Obama “is focused like a laser on putting people back to work,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) assured us last fall — echoing repeated statements by President Obama and Administration officials who “can’t wait” for Congress or others to take action and create jobs.
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