An Economics Lesson Even a Liberal Can Grasp

[Janice]

An Economics Lesson Even a Liberal Can Grasp

The more President Obama calls for a second stimulus spending spree to create those jobs the first spending spree failed to create, the more he sounds like the grocer in that old joke >>>

Since the president and his advisers haven't got a clue about how our economy works -- which isn't surprising, since these people have less practical business experience than any kid with a lemonade stand -- here's an economics lesson so short and simple even a liberal can grasp it:

The key point to understand is that an economy is a kind of operating system.  This means that if you want the economy to "do" something -- such as create more jobs -- you have to go about it the way the operating system is designed to work.  Otherwise you cannot possibly succeed.

Think of it this way: our cell phones have operating systems built into them.  There's no Republican way to make a phone call with your iPhone, and no Democratic way to do it.  There's no conservative approach to checking your email with a BlackBerry or an Android, and no liberal approach to doing it.  You just do it the way your cell phone's operating system requires.

It's the same with an economy.  Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of economic operating systems: a free-market economy and a command economy.  In a free-market economy, the government sets the rules and enforces them, but otherwise stays out of the way and allows individuals and businesses to call the shots.  In a command economy, the government's role is so large that it not only sets and enforces the rules, but also calls the shots. >>>

Entrepreneurs Create Jobs

In a free-market economy like ours, it's the entrepreneurs who create jobs. >>>

Think of it this way: if you want more milk, create an environment in which cows will thrive.  And just as it makes no sense to say you want more milk but oppose cows because they're smelly, dirty, and leave their droppings all over the place -- it makes no sense to say you want more jobs but oppose entrepreneurs because when they succeed they often wind up with more money than the rest of us.  You cannot have it both ways. >>>

Let's go back to the observation that an economy, like a cell phone, has an operating system built into it.  Imagine that you have a new cell phone, and you ask me how to make a call.  I tell you to punch in a phone number, then rub the phone against your leg and fling it against the wall.  Did your call go through?  No?  Okay, I say, now try it again -- but this time fling your phone harder.  Your call still didn't go through?  Would you like to try it a third time?  Or have you finally figured out that I have no idea what I'm talking about; that if you keep listening to me you're going to break your phone; that it's time to settle down, read the operator's manual, and do it the way your cell phone's operating system is designed to work?

The good news is that our economy is more resilient than our cell phones.  It can take a lot of abuse and still be made to work if only we start doing things the right way.  The bad news is that if we keep doing things to create jobs that make absolutely no sense and cannot possibly work, at some point even the world's most powerful and dynamic economy will be broken beyond repair.

And that's a lesson in economics even a liberal can understand.

Command and control. Thats the ticket ... in liberal utopia-land. Good article.

[Janice]

Obama blows another billion on green fantasies
Crony capitalism may have lurked in the shadows of this solar-panel bust

Last week, the Obama administration’s Department of Energy announced it is extending an $852 million loan guarantee to something called the Genesis Solar Project in California.

Genesis, according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, will be built on federal land and ultimately employ perhaps 800 people during its construction and 47 people once it is up and running. This would seem to be a lot of money to generate very few jobs at a time when the nation is on the verge of bankruptcy, but the project really isn’t about jobs.

It’s the latest in the administration’s attempt to turn us away from dependence on fossil fuels regardless of cost and reality. This project, according to Mr. Chu, “will enable the deployment of clean, renewable sources at scale, which will help bring down the cost of solar power in the years to come.”

Maybe, but one has to remember that this man is part of an administration with neither a learning curve nor much regard for the intelligence of the people who elected the president.

You see, Mr. Chu and his boss have been there and done that already in California, using tax money to guarantee a massive investment in a company that was going to help usher in a brave, new and a very green world.

That company, Solyndra, declared bankruptcy not 48 hours after Mr. Chu announced his faith in Genesis. Solyndra’s founders managed to procure and eat up roughly half a billion dollars in federally guaranteed loans without making a penny in profit before declaring bankruptcy. >>>

Dontcha jus luv fascism in liberal utopia land? And look at how green subsidies worked out for Spain.

[Janice]

President Obama's Tax On Soup Kitchens
September 14, 2011

Yesterday, it was announced that an astounding 1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty. President Obama's response? To demand a tax on donations to soup kitchens and other charities that help people desperately in need. The President's proposal will impact approximately 40% of all the tax deductible contributions, and essentially penalize soup kitchens, hospitals, and churches that provide essential services to those who need them most. It’s no wonder this tax hike has been rejected on both sides of the aisle.

His new taxes, intended to pay for his temporary "tax break" largesse (which will expire at the end of 2012) will begin in 2013 and will not be temporary and will permanently extinguish any remaining embers of recovery there might have been in the economy. The Kenyan will be happy about that. In his mind, it serves us right.

[Erasmus]

Lots of liberals can grasp that.  The question is will they?  The answer is NO.  They're too concerned about ideology to be concerned with what's actually best for America or the economy.

[NHSparky]

Yup--stupidity towards charitable organizations aren't limited to the government.

The Methodist church here in town has been running a kitchen at the fair for the last 55 years.  They made a modest profit of maybe $3000 a year or so which went towards their bi-weekly soup kitchens.

This year, the fair told them that all the volunteers would have to pay admittance to the fair on top of the rental for the space they were using at the fairgrounds.

The fair was then told that this year would be the last year of the kitchen run by the church.

[Janice]

Taxpayers foot the bill for Justice Department’s $16 muffins

The Justice Department and several of its agencies engaged in “extravagant and wasteful” spending on food, beverages and event planning for law enforcement conferences, including paying $16 each for muffins, $76 per person for lunch and more than $8 for a cup of coffee, according to an audit released Tuesday by the department’s Office of Inspector General.

At one conference, a workshop on enhancing judicial skills, participants were served snacks of Cracker Jack, popcorn and candy during a break, costing $32 a person, and also were provided a “deluxe” ice cream assortment that cost $10 per person. The 166 people attending a separate conference of U.S. attorneys were fed beef Wellington appetizers at $7.32 per serving. >>>

Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department, was critical Tuesday of the expenditures. >>> More ...

The Kenyan Wonder Boy reportedly serves some of the best Kool Aid one can find anywhere ...

[Wineslob]

Entrepreneurs Create Jobs

In a free-market economy like ours, it's the entrepreneurs who create jobs. >>>

Liberals understand this? Not in a million years. The "capitalism has failed" meme has already been used and rehashed, ad nauseam.