In Part I of this two-parter a coming currency collapse and accompanying sovereign bankruptcies were discussed. This part discusses why a currency collapse is nearly certain and what options and [...]
Government
Feb 032012
DirectorBlue has provided a summary of the CBO report and its implications for this country. Sorry, there is no good news to be extracted, even from this ostensibly (but not really) independent monitoring agency. Their forecasts are almost always optimistic, if you can call this route to bankruptcy they have produced as optimistic. It will be compared to the roll out of the actual numbers.
Yesterday, January 31st 9:21pm
Jim Pethokoukis points us to a just-released report from the Congressional Budget Office (PDF) that includes some extremely troubling graphs.
Catastrophic budget deficits and unemployment levels (purposefully understated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) as far as the eye can see. The good news? By 2022 the economy will have
collapsedbeen “fundamentally transformed” under soaring interest rates and unpayable debts.
Obama can blame Bush, Martin Van Buren, or Mary Tyler Moore — but the facts are simple: those last four bars are owned 100% by the Democrat Party. The Stimulus package, which I like to call “the most audacious armed robbery in world history” continues to be spent every year as it is built into the baseline budget. Which somehow seems to escape legacy media’s attention as they discuss taxing “the rich”, “oil companies”, “doctors who charge $30,000 for an amputation“, and anyone else who tries to make an honest living.
Robert Higgs, author of Crisis and Leviathan, discusses his book and its implications on understanding government growth and behavior. The book was written in the 1980s and this video is from the mid 1990s.
I found his talk fascinating in that he uses the framework of his book to explain what happened in government since he wrote it. More fascinating was the continued relevance of his views to what has happened since the mid-1990s. In that sense, the talk was an extension of his prior thinking to ten years later. But now, we see another 16 years of data from the time of his speech or a quarter of a century from the publication of his book.
The video is lengthy (about 30 minutes) so set aside some time to evaluate the accuracy of Higgs’ expectations. I think you will agree that Higgs was correct in his analysis. Perhaps this video will encourage you to read his book of 25 years ago or at least some of his more current work.
Here is the intro from Libertarianism.org where the video is available:
Robert Higgs on the Rise and Fall of Leviathan
Robert Higgs is an economic historian whose writings focus on the causes and means of government growth. He is the author of Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (1989). Higgs speaks here at a Future of Freedom Foundation conference in 1995 on the ratchet effect- the idea that governments tend to grab power during emergencies but do not cede it completely after each crisis abates- and gives his own analysis of what it might take to slow the growth of government in the 21st century.
Note the pay of Federal employees. Then note that they produce nothing of value!
H/T to The American
Feb 022012
Sent in by reader BG with the following note:
Look at the bottom of the sign to see who paid for it. Love it!!
Seen 5 miles east of Clovis, NM
While the billboard is a colorful way to emphasize Obama’s failure and the plight of the American people, there are numerous other ways. One was an article written by William L. Gensert where Obama’s “dismal job performance” is reviewed. Just one of the many oberservations by Mr. Gensert is the following:
The U6 unemployment rate, which adds in the underemployed and the discouraged and no longer looking (but still wanting to work), is at 15.2%. If you include those who have left the workforce altogether, the rate is closer to 23%.
This one and numerous other “accomplishments” of our progressive leader are presented in the article which captures the destruction of the American economy and society.
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