From the Weekly Standard: Five Ways to Destroy the U.S. Economy. Her Royal Highness Hillary I is behind all five, while The Donald supports at least a couple of them. Excerpt:
Is a slow-growth future inevitable for America? More than ever, that’s the conclusion of economists, and it’s a recurring theme of some presidential candidates. The irony is that the U.S. economy has been leading the world for a century in terms of total GDP, income per capita, and entrepreneurial innovation.
This election, sadly, the Cassandras have a point. The past seven years have seen the weakest recovery in modern U.S. history, showcased by stagnant incomes and an illusion of low unemployment, while millions have given up on the labor force. Slow growth is not inevitable, but federal policy “defaults” are stuck in the wrong place. Capital markets are hamstrung by Dodd-Frank, health markets are hamstrung by the Affordable Care Act, and structural deficits are on autopilot toward a national debt crisis.
Instead of discussions about how to fix the mess, the populist-toned 2016 election is overflowing with proposals that will do even more damage. Senator Bernie Sanders handily won the last six Democratic caucuses advocating old-school socialism, while Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is calling for a 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods, a lurch toward autarky that would make 1930 protectionist members of Congress Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley blush.
That is, of course, the Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which kicked off a global trade war and is today generally considered one of the primary causes of the Great Depression.
Read all five of the destructive policies, but here is the scary bit; the conclusion:
The good news about this policy agenda—what really makes it different from others—is that it requires no sacrifices. No new laws. No action by Congress. If Washington just stays on course, we will reap the whirlwind without any additional effort, or thought, at all.
That’s right, True Believers – there’s this fiscal cliff we’re marching towards, and our minions in the Imperial City are loudly proclaiming “what cliff? We don’t see any cliff.”
My parents were children of the Great Depression. They still tell stories of those years. I’m hoping my grandchildren won’t be children of the Greater Depression, but these days, I’m not so hopeful.
