In his New York Times column, “Lust for Gold” (April 12), Paul Krugman embraces once again monetary inflation as one of the ways to create prosperity, one of the longest enduring myths in economics. By disparaging gold as money, Krugman also reveals his lack of understanding of monetary economics. In addition, Krugman’s support for deficit spending also puts him in the camp of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, who said “deficits don’t matter.” In short, Krugman as well as Republican politicians just cannot get enough of the welfare-warfare state.
Archive for the ‘Welfare state’ Category
David Stockman nails it
31
Mar
The former congressman and Reagan administration budget director lays out the case for what ails America in today’s New York Times, crony capitalism. One of the best essays to appear in an Establishment newspaper in recent years.
Chris Christie gives a great big bear hug to expanding Medicaid
28
Feb
In his budget address to the legislature, Governor Chris Christie announced that New Jersey would participate in an expansion of Medicaid as part of Affordable Care Act known to most people as Obamacare.
Oy Gevalt! New Jersey Republicans are really Democrats
20
Feb
A recent Quinnipiac poll of New Jerseyans revealed that 76% of voters support raising the minimum wage. Not surprisingly, 94% of registered Democrats favor the use of coercion —the law– to raise the wages of unskilled workers, while a whopping 55% of Republicans also support the state driving wages higher than allowing markets, supply and demand, to determine the appropriate wage for workers who demonstrably have few value added abilities.
In addition, 56% of voters favored a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage while 38% feel that the minimum wage should be raised by law.
Economic ignorance is rampant in the White House, in the Congress, in the Supreme Court, throughout state legislators, among mayors, within the economics profession and the media. Now we have further proof that the public, the last hope in a “democracy” to support common sense ideas, is shamelessly ignorant of the basic principles of economics.
Minimum wage laws cause higher unemployment among the least skilled workers in society than otherwise would be the case, most of whom are young inner city minority youth. So the question we should ask, why is racism so prevalent in our society, especially among Democrats?
Paul Krugman confesses: I am not an economist
18
Feb
In his New York Times column Paul Krugman calls for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9.00 as President Obama proposed in his State of the Union address. Krugman asserts this would be good policy but acknowledges that raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour would “create a lot of problems.” (See Robert Wenzel’s critique of Krugman’s essay.)
In fact, Krugman acknowledges, “Every textbook — mine included — lays out the unintended consequences that flow from policies like rent controls or agricultural price supports.” But when it comes to labor issues, Krugman ignores his professions conclusions about interfering in markets and asserts that raising a minimum price, in this case the price of unskilled labor, would not have any adverse consequences for workers.
How does Paul reach that conclusion? He doesn’t. Krugman is using his prestige as a Nobel Laureate in Economics and his perch as a New York Times pundit to exclaim to the world that what he writes in his textbook for which he makes oodles of money is really BS, because what he really believes in is “public policy.” Will Krugman’s publisher edit his textbook with the warning? “Paul Krugman claims to be an economist but does not believe in what he writes about markets. Read at your own risk.”
Ludwig von Mises anticipated Krugman and other “economists” decades ago when he wrote: “There is, in fact, in the writings and teaching of those who nowadays call themselves economists, no longer any comprehension of the operation of the economic system as such.”
Paul Krugman is smart but does not believe in the principles of his own profession. He is in effect an apologist for the welfare state.
Welcome to Obama’s America: Trickle down economics, legal plunder and overseas intervention
15
Feb
Below are some of the major excerpts of President Obama’s State of the Union address. After each section, I will clarify what the President means and how his proposals contradict his own rhetoric, namely, that the government should encourage free enterprise.
Open to big government: Be careful what you wish for
11
Feb
The front page article of the New York Times, “A Growing Trend: Young, Liberal and Open to Big Government,” is another example of why individuals need a basic education in economics and finance, which they apparently are not getting in high school or in college. Read the rest of this entry »
The GOP should fold up its “big tent” and just go away
02
Jan
The deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff passed the U.S. Senate with only eight no votes. The House passed the bill on New Year’s Day in another (smaller) “bipartisan” vote, 257 to 167. In other words, the GOP, the party of supposedly fiscal conservatism, caved in on higher taxes for not only upper income Americans but also allowed the temporary Social Security tax cut to expire for all wage earners. Moreover, the estate tax rate increases above $5 million.
The culture of violence in America? Blame the federal government
17
Dec
Since the horrific events in Newtown last Friday, a renewed call for more gun control has filled the airwaves and the print media. In addition, the usual suspects have appeared on talk shows–psychiatrists, gun confiscation advocates, and the usual loud mouth politicians–calling for the Congress and President “to do something” to prevent future school massacres.
The Sabrin Rule to fix the fiscal cliff…let’s really soak the rich
26
Nov
In essays on consecutive days in the New York Times, Steven Rattner and Warren Buffett call for higher taxes on upper income Americans to close the federal budget gap. Rattner calls for raising the top tax rate on capital gains to 28 percent, the same rate during Bill Clinton’s first term. He asserts that “capitalists” would not be adversely affected by the rise in tax rates. He also would eliminate the “carried interest” tax preference (15% rate), the “indefensibly low tax rate” that is paid by some private equity and hedge fund investors. In addition, Rattner would cap deductions on the wealthy taxpayers and increase taxes on dividends as well.
How to end gridlock in DC. Guaranteed.
08
Nov
Now that President Obama has been overwhelmingly reelected, at least by the spread in the Electoral College, and GOP House Speaker John Boehner has made conciliatory statements about working with the administration to prevent the “fiscal cliff,” higher taxes and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013.
Ban hospitals
22
Sep
The Wall Street Journal article, How to Stop Hospitals From Killing Us, is a sober reminder that life has enormous risks. When highly trained individuals are responsible for nearly 100,000 deaths annually due to medical errors, where is the outrage among the gun prohibitionists, who claim that gun ownership must be severely restricted because of the needless deaths associated with gun violence. If the number of deaths is considered the standard by which we should judge whether something should be prohibited or restricted, then an excellent case could be made that hosptials are three to four times more lethal than gun owenership.
Some of my opening prepared remarks: “Why the federal government creates Ponzi schemes”
13
Sep
Some observations before I begin:
There are no tax loopholes; there are deductions, exemptions and credits in the tax code. A loophole is a political word.
Herbert Hoover was not a laissez faire president; federal spending increased, taxes increased, the Federal Reserve boosted the money supply, government got bigger and unemployment skyrocketed under HH. Dems have been successfully running against HH for the wrong reasons. FDR was the fiscal conservative in the 1932 presidential campaign. FDR expanded the HH’s expansion of federal government power. Result: depression lasted for more than a decade.
Corey Booker…wants the “wealthy to pay their fair share”
05
Sep
At the Democratic convention, Newark mayor Corey Booker’s call for higher taxes on the wealthy so the federal government can spend more on welfare programs is emblematic of the morally bankrupt ideology of the Democratic party. Shamelessly, Booker is another example of why most politicians are nothing more than slick Willie Suttons.
Romney-Ryan perpetuate the welfare-warfare state
22
Aug
In an op-ed, “Romney-Ryan worldview: Reaganism on steroids,” Joseph Chuman, leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, makes more economic fallacies and historical inaccuracies than you can shake a stick at. President Reagan’s fiscal conservatism was all rhetoric. Spending skyrocketed under the Gipper and taxes, especially payroll taxes, were hiked to “save” Social Security.