Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Good As Gold

Here is a long but worthwhile read by Lewis E. Lehrman.

Paper (a.k.a., fiat) money, or worse still, digital zeroes and ones on a hard drive as money, is the fundamental cause of the downfall of the economies of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, already manifest.  Under the profligate monetary policy of Bernanke's Fed and Obama's "money for nothin' and chicks for free" the United States economy is on the same path already trod by the PIIGS.

Oh by the way, in addition to shackling profligate politicians in the vote buying business, a gold standard also makes it obvious that you can't borrow what hasn't already been produced and saved.

I know, I know; broken record.   

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Are We Worried Yet?

Here, David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, explains how we got to the edge of the political-economic precipice we are now standing near.  Read it and weep.

You can't borrow what hasn't already been produced and saved.   What a surprise.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Defending the Fair Tax

As readers of EconoBlast know, I support the Fair Tax.  In recent weeks, some anonymous crank has sent tens of comments to EconoBlast that lambaste both the Fair Tax and me (one presumes the anonymity is based on cowardice).  I have not published the comments, because they are lambastes, not arguments based on reason or evidence.

The issue this anonymous critic appears obsessed with is that the Fair Tax calls for state and local governments to pay the national sales tax on purchases they make.  The cowardly anonymous critic rants and raves on and on about how requiring state and local governments to pay a national sales tax would be unfair, undesirable, and politically unacceptable.

As it happens, other professional economists have already written extensively about this topic.  Consequently, I offer their work here, instead of attempting to repeat it.  I warn readers that the article I link to in the preceding sentence is not for the mathematically dim.

The only reason I am posting this to EconoBlast is because I have tired of the rants and raves of the aforementioned anonymous critic.  To that critic I offer the following thought: don't bother sending additional comments to EconoBlast, for they will not be published.  Read the linked article, if you are able to understand it, and move on.

For readers of EconoBlast who have no interest in the Fair Tax and this petty critic, I apologize.  No more will be made of it.