Quote:
Originally Posted by sperbonzo
Personally I'm a big Mises fan. You and I completely agree on this issue. It's always been bizarre to me when people say that government spending "puts money into the economy" When I explain to them that the government doesn't create any wealth, it simply takes if from people that do, (in the form of taxes, or devaluation of the currency by printing more), or borrowing it by selling bonds, which it must pay interest on, people STILL don't seem to get it. It's along the same lines of saying that tax cuts "cost the government", as if the wealth was created by the government, and it was giving it out to someone....
|
Yeah, there's no shortage of economic fallacies.
When the earthquake hit Japan, those Keynesians said that that was actually a good thing because now there would be a demand for workers to build new houses. In other words: they claimed that the eartquake was actually good for the economy.
and
and
at the same time.
You could hear Bastiat, Say, Mises, Rothbard, Menger etc role over in their graves.
All this talk about jobs for example is just absurd. Jobs are a means to an end, not an end in itself.
People don't get a job just to have a job.
People get a job to earn money. Money they can use to buy a house, buy food, buy clothes, buy products and services they personally value, to save money for a rainy day etc. People work to acquire wealth.
Government intervention actually destroys wealth and prevents people from getting productive jobs.
When the government taxes a business owner and gives the money (minus a handling fee that goes to the government) to unemployed people, they reduce his capital and reduce his ability to improve his business, they reduce his ability to hire people, they reduce his ability to adapt to changing customer preferences, they increase the chance that he will go bankrupt.
When the government passes minimum wage laws they actually prevent people from hiring people without experience.
When the government uses money (taxes) it took from productive companies and uses it to subsidize or bailout failing businesses, it actually destroys wealth and creates a lot of waste.
When the government requires licenses for just about anything it actually prevents people from taking initiative and becoming their own boss.
When the government prevents employers from easily firing employees when things get though, they actually cost the company money and they make employers more reluctant to hire new workers when things get better.
In a pure free market people can only make money if they produce products or services other people actually want. In a pure free market, irresponsible behavior gets punished, not rewarded. In a pure free market those who come up with new products or services that better serve the needs and wants of the public make more money. In a pure free market, those that sell crappy products lose clients.