Although President Obama has warned us repeatedly that the country is facing an economic "crisis" that could turn into a "catastrophe," numerous commentators have noted that his stated priorities do not address, much less solve, the underlying causes of the economic downturn. In his State of the The Union address, the President stressed that we need cap and trade for carbon emissions, universal healthcare, and education reform . Each of these policy initiatives can be debated on their merits, but none of them address our core economic problems. So, is the Administration tackling our economic problems?
The British are beginning to wonder (HT: Jonah Goldberg). The head of the British civil service, Sir Gus O'Donnell, made a rare complaint about the new Administration. Sir Gus and his minions have been trying to consult with the US Treasury regarding the upcoming G20 world economic summit. But he can't get anyone to answer the phone. "There is nobody there," he said. "You cannot believe how difficult it is."
Obviously, this does not bode well for the country or even for the world economic order. Moreover, it reinforces the impression that this Administration is not ready for prime time. Saturday Night Live may wish to take notice.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The cost of Obama's proposed mortgage bailout plan
A New York Times article reports today that the administration's mortgage bailout plan is estimated to cost about $75 billion to "help as many as 4 million people avoid foreclosure . . .." I did the math: it works out to $18,750 per homeowner. While I don't have any benchmark, we should be able to accomplish this for a lot less .
/>Sunday, March 1, 2009
Obama's first month in office
Does anyone really know what the blizzard of plans that Obama has put forward in his first month in office really entail, other than a massive increase in the size of government and government spending? I doubt it. Certainly not the legislators who have voted and will be voting on these various plans. I don't believe a single one of them read the full spending bill that just passed before voting on it.
This rush (panic really) to legislate is tragic, perhaps catastrophic. Nancy Pelosi's ludicrous claim that every month that passed without the passage of the spending bill would cause the loss of 500 million American jobs is emblematic of the lack of serious consideration these proposals have received.
The military says that speed kills. In the legislative arena, speed leads to the frantic passage of bills written by nameless staffers and passed by elected officials who don't even know what is in them. What we do know is that all of this, if passed, will cost a staggering amount. And President Obama's proposals to pay for all or even most of this new spending are voodoo economics on stilts. And it will be with this for a very long time, even if it turns out we don't like it.
Mark Steyn sums this up better than I can. He certainly does it more wittily.
This rush (panic really) to legislate is tragic, perhaps catastrophic. Nancy Pelosi's ludicrous claim that every month that passed without the passage of the spending bill would cause the loss of 500 million American jobs is emblematic of the lack of serious consideration these proposals have received.
The military says that speed kills. In the legislative arena, speed leads to the frantic passage of bills written by nameless staffers and passed by elected officials who don't even know what is in them. What we do know is that all of this, if passed, will cost a staggering amount. And President Obama's proposals to pay for all or even most of this new spending are voodoo economics on stilts. And it will be with this for a very long time, even if it turns out we don't like it.
Mark Steyn sums this up better than I can. He certainly does it more wittily.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Phill Gramm on the economic debacle
Senator Gramm is a former Professor of economics. Here is his article published in today's Wall Street Journal. I have to agree with him that the current mess cannot be blamed on deregulation, as opposed to lax and misguided regulation. As he points out, government regulators actually encouraged lenders to make bad loans.
More of this kind of "regulation" is not the solution.
More of this kind of "regulation" is not the solution.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The economics of stimulus.
Dick Armey isn't telegenic, but he is a former economics professor (and House Majority Leader). He has an excellent article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal analyzing the economics under girding the various proposed "stimulus" proposals. It boils down to Keynes versus Hayek. I think Hayek's criticisms are valid and largely unrebutted.
Obama's first two weeks
Victor Davis Hanson has a pithy post summing up the first two weeks of the Obama administration. It's been a weird procession of self-promoters, tax cheats, and lobbyists. And, as VDH notes: "its only been two weeks." Even the adoring MSM will have to admit (at least privately) that it has not been an auspicious beginning.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Why a new New Deal is a really bad idea.
There is an excellent article in today's Wall Street Journal explaining how the New Deal actually prolonged and worsened the great depression. If only our political leaders would read and learn from this kind of research.
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