Mar 9, 2004
Beyond Charts and Graphs
Shockingly clear-headed thinking in David Ignatius' column from today's Pravda. He suggests that perhaps the reason the U.S. economy has failed to create more jobs is because business leaders and investors remain wary of future uncertainty politically and legally. After the war, business scandals, and a recession, he points out that it's completely reasonable to believe that business people aren't going to sink tons of money into the economy in the near term. That won't help job creation.
From a liberty perspective the message from this is quite clear. You can't rely on government to"improve" the economy just by fiscal or monetary policy. If there's one thing the Austrian school of economics has taught us, it's that the hubris it takes to believe you can"plan" economic growth is forever doomed to failure. If Mr. Bush were more of an Austrian and less of an neo-Keynesian he might not be in the mess he's in today politically, and the nation might have a few more jobs and a lot less government.