Today I completed “The Economics of Public Issues.” After reading the evidence presented in the book, I am inclined to believe that competition should be the ultimate goal of our government. Education, communication, forest usage, and many other issues should be set up to encourage competition. Let students choose their schools (i.e. something along the lines of a voucher system). Deregulate phone service and remove barriers to competing against the USPS. SEND JOBS OVERSEAS! Yes, some estimates show that the cost of keeping some jobs in the US is greater than the salary paid to that worker. In the grand scheme of things, the country would be better off to buy the foreign product, tell the American worker to stay home, and give that American worker a raise for staying home. NAFTA and the WTO are good steps in the direction of opening up trade. The idea is that if we buy products from foreign countries at fair prices, they will in turn begin buying more things from us. Of course the reason to not buy things from us are our non-competitive wages. Any time someone argues to “save jobs” they really mean that we should subsidize people who are already overpaid.
It goes on and on, but I recommend this book as a must read. It’s “The Economics of Public Issues, 12th Ed.” by Miller, Benjamin, and North.
Additionally, most things that we seek to ban these days would be better treated by simply allowing them. Allow drugs, alcohol to all, abortions, and prostitution among other things and regulate them. Invest the huge savings to education of such topics.
Want to reduce trash creation? Increase removal rates. Want to conserve water? Increase rates. Want cleaner air? Support the plan to allow corporations to buy and sell pollution credits.
Basically, anything done for humanity, or to be humane results in increased losses.
30% of Medicare’s budget goes to patients in their last year of life. I think it’s ridiculous to spend billions of dollars to keep people alive for a few extra weeks or months. What’s next, free cryogenic freezing? Death happens. Accept it. Mourn. Move on. Being humane is great, but in the long run too much humanity will destroy humanity.
And to the socialists, and wealth redistributors… we can live in a country of economic divides or we can all be poor and miserable together.
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