(This is a corrected text of an earlier version of this post which had errors--my appologies--DWD)
The liberal media may have yet more power of persuasion than even most conservatives already believe. There are several misconceptions that many conservatives uphold that are inconsistent with a conservative point of view, at least with respect to economic issues. With appologies to some of my conservative friends, I offer the following as one that I consider to be among the most common such misconceptions (more to follow at a later date):
Misconception: Outsourcing is bad.
"Oursourcing" is a term that has been seized upon and disparaged by liberals who desire to put (yet more) government constrains on free trade. The primary critics of outsourcing are labor unions and those particular businesses that are impacted by "foreign competition." Both free trade and competition are good things--the more the better.
Many thousands of common products that we buy and sell each day are the product of free market cooperation among multiple nations worldwide. This has been true since, and even before, the founding of American. International free trade has helped all countries worldwide to raise their living standards--including the U.S.
Today, nearly every country "outsources" TO the U.S. in some manner or other. When we ask government to curtail outsourcing we are asking for more constraints to personal freedom and to free trade. U.S. trade restrictions are typically met in kind with trade restrictions from the targeted nation which, in turn, harm U.S. business interests. It's a cut-of-your-nose-to-spite-your-face thing.
If you're not already peeved, let me offer a final comment: the slogan "Buy American" is a knock against free trade (and personal freedom) and it is a vote for more government power over freedom of association and more constraints to free trade. I LOVE American made products, but nothing has raised the quality of Fords and Chevys (and kept car prices down) more than competition from Toyota and Honda and the like. The same is true of all products, and we citizens are the benefactors.
The basic concept is: whenever we ask government to control or regulate anything having to do with personal freedom--in the long run, we lose.
Have a nice day,
DWD
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
VOTER DISCONNECT
I get gobs of emails lambasting politicians, and most are accurate. However, to a degree, we are misguided in simply blaming politicians--doing so deflects the responsibility from ourselves. Here is one example of how we have created our own monster:
This CBS poll identified that 77% of citizens say that the best way to cut the deficit is to cut spending as opposed to raising taxes. Pretty overwhelming consensus would you say?
However, consider this graph, when asked specifically what to cut, the same general group of citizens essentially says don't cut anything. In fact, the net of the responses is that we want more spending in most every major category (except Foreign Aid which, as I will show in a subsequent post, is so small it is hardly worth considering).
Is there not a major disconnect? We want less government spending but we want more services for ourselves and our neighbors.
Have nice day
DWD
This CBS poll identified that 77% of citizens say that the best way to cut the deficit is to cut spending as opposed to raising taxes. Pretty overwhelming consensus would you say?
However, consider this graph, when asked specifically what to cut, the same general group of citizens essentially says don't cut anything. In fact, the net of the responses is that we want more spending in most every major category (except Foreign Aid which, as I will show in a subsequent post, is so small it is hardly worth considering).
Is there not a major disconnect? We want less government spending but we want more services for ourselves and our neighbors.
Have nice day
DWD
Friday, October 4, 2013
THE NATIONAL DEBT
As shown below, in 2000, the national debt was about $6 trillion. Today it is about $16 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office projects that in ten years it will be about $26 trillion.
So how much is a trillion anyway? Most of us know that if a million is a lot, then a billion is probably really a lot. But what about a trillion? As shown in the graph below, a billion is so small that it does not even register on this graph that shows a line for one trillion.
My favorite way of describing a trillion is that for a person working at $60 per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year it would take 1.9 years to earn a million dollars. To earn a billion dollars it would take them 1,900 years. But to earn a trillion dollars it would take them one million, 900 thousand years (1,900,000 years). Understanding a trillion dollars is like trying to understand the distance of a light year. When we talk of the national debt in multiples of trillions of dollars we are in deep you-know-what. And who will have to pay if we don't act now and in a big way? Our children and grandchildren.
Have a nice day.
DWD
So how much is a trillion anyway? Most of us know that if a million is a lot, then a billion is probably really a lot. But what about a trillion? As shown in the graph below, a billion is so small that it does not even register on this graph that shows a line for one trillion.
My favorite way of describing a trillion is that for a person working at $60 per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year it would take 1.9 years to earn a million dollars. To earn a billion dollars it would take them 1,900 years. But to earn a trillion dollars it would take them one million, 900 thousand years (1,900,000 years). Understanding a trillion dollars is like trying to understand the distance of a light year. When we talk of the national debt in multiples of trillions of dollars we are in deep you-know-what. And who will have to pay if we don't act now and in a big way? Our children and grandchildren.
Have a nice day.
DWD
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