Did World War II spending boost economic growth? Although some statistics appear to affirm this, wiser historical analysis demonstrates that artificial increases in output during the war masked a debilitated private economy. Meaningful growth increased after the war, when free-market mechanisms returned and marginal tax rates were reduced. Gross national product (GNP), the total value of everything produced by United States domestically or abroad, did increase during the war and trended downward as the war ended in 1945, falling considerably in 1946 and 1947. It would be shallow analysis, however, … More
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By Daniel Ikenson
Remember the story of that once-great nation that sacrificed its well-paying manufacturing jobs for low-wage, burger-flipping jobs at the altar of free trade? At one time, that story was a popular rejoinder of manufacturing unions and their apologists to the inconvenient facts that, despite manufacturing employment attrition, the economy was producing an average of 1.84 [...]
Does the U.S. Economy Need More Boeings or More Facebooks? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Daniel J. Mitchell
One hopes that the dictator of North Korea suffered greatly before he died. After all, his totalitarian and communist (pardon the redundancy) policies have cause untold death and misery. But let’s try to learn an economics lesson. In a previous post, I compared long-term growth in Hong Kong and Argentina to show the difference between [...]
The Brutal Impact of North Korean Statism is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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Silicon Valley is one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy today, but a new report warns that Washington’s outdated regulation and antitrust policy threatens to stifle growth among innovative technology companies. The report, produced by the Progressive Policy Institute, analyzes the impact of acquisitions in the technology sector. It concludes that acquisitions lead to economic growth and job creation. There’s just one problem: Washington bureaucracy. The federal government’s process of approving acquisitions — a problem well-documented by Heritage’s James Gattuso — can slow down innovation, hamper growth … More
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By Tad DeHaven
After three years and $4 trillion in combined deficit spending, unemployment remains stubbornly high and the economy sluggish. That people are still asking what the government can do to stimulate the economy is mind-boggling. That the Keynesian-inspired deficit spending binge did create jobs isn’t in question. The real question is whether it created any net jobs after [...]
We’ve Had Enough Government ‘Stimulation’ is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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