Free Market Journal

The Solution

2010-03-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

The Solution that should be taken by our government is deeply rooted in supply side economics. First of all, interest rates should be low, but not so low that money is as easy to get as it was at the beginning of the housing bubble. Secondly, our taxes should be cut by 20% or more. Thirdly, regulatory approval should be passed within a couple of weeks, not a couple of months. All of these measures would make a stronger, better America. It is no coincidence that the reason that America was the pre eminent superpower of the 20th century was because of the relatively "pure" capitalism that was the norm back then. Nowadays, our country is teaching children collectivist ideals, something that will shape the future of America negatively.

Government Gives Fat Paychecks

2010-03-11T12:18:00.000-08:00

While the government is regulating the private sector and telling companies how to spend money, give bonus's, ect; government workers are using our money to gain benefits, and higher wages, according to this article.

We have a hypocritical government. On one side, the Obama administration is saying "No more bonus's, more regulation" at the same time, the government is giving its workers fat paychecks and good benefits, sometimes better than private industries.

When our tax dollars, which we are being told is going towards a good cause, and is going to help us quickly, is being spent on things that will not help us, then the government has failed its duty, and can be considered to be moving towards a collectivist dictatorship that will destroy America as we know it.

Rebuilding Iraq

2010-03-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

Iraq has recently had an election; that for the most part was successful despite terrorist attacks. Iraq has a lot of oil, however, it is nowhere near as rich as places like Dubai. This is because of poor leadership and a destruction of the free market in Iraq. People can say "The free market can never work in Iraq because it is an entirely different culture." But the desire to be productive and get something out of your own productivity is a universal ideal.

Iraq in 50 years could look like Dubai right now; it has largly undeveloped oil fields, which, once oil in Dubai starts to run out, create an "Oil Rush" attracting companies such as Exxon Mobil to the country.

However, this future is assuming that the West will keep up its thirst for oil. If hybrid and all electric car technologies turn out to be viable, then there would be no need for this oil, and the most likely trade partner would be China.

More Tax Breaks -- Providing a Short Term Solution

2010-03-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

The new jobs bill that cleared congress approves 15 billion dollars in granting payroll tax breaks intending to spur job creation. A democratic congressman said the legislation is "really all about our three most important priorities in this Congress — jobs, jobs, jobs." House republicans stated that the bill was created for political support and wont really do anything to create jobs.

Any bill created by congress is doubtful to work at best. Especially a democratically controlled congress. The largest mistake that the congress - and the government continues to make is to not make use of the vast amount of talent available in the private sector. If economists were consulted before every economic bill, then this country might not be in as much of a mess as it is in currently.

The ultimate way that any government could help their economy is to lay off of private sector matters. That is, interest rates should remain at a moderate, stable level, the regulatory bureaucracy should be less of a nightmare for companies, and corporate in addition to personal tax should be set at a low, stable level.

The government should function only to spur innovation (making sure there isn't a monopoly too large), provide healthcare to those who cannot work, and protect the country from foreign invasion. All R&D should be done privately, destroying the need for DARPA, and NASA should be at least cut in half (in terms of size) in order to create room for private industry.

White House Blames Unemployment On The Snow

2010-03-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

Economic advisor Larry Summers said today that "The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it's going to be very important ... to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends".

The White House should not resort to excuses to explain the problems with the country. This is along the lines of "A dog ate my homework" if not worse. The problems of this country should be answered with real, smart, thought out, answers. When the White House makes a comment like this, it only adds to the mistrust that is already present with President Obama and his administration.

Threat to Rights

2010-02-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

When a majority of people think that the government is a threat to rights, as a CNN poll finds; then the government should take notice and take action to improve its public image. But, with the policies that the Obama administration is pursuing, the citizens of this great nation do have a point in saying "We Fear for our Rights". Obama could Obama be a step backwards from the Civil Rights Movement and the Feminist Movement? He could very well prove to be.

Expansion And Google

2010-02-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

With the expansion of any large company beyond its home countries borders, resistance is to be expected. The expansion of Google overseas is no different; but Google has suffered attack on its property, likely orchestrated by the Chinese government. When private property, the most sacred of rights is violated, the governments of both nations involved, in this case the United States and China, should get together and talk the dispute out. With the lack of action by the Obama administration, Google has had to deal with the problem themselves.

If Obama is going to be the face and the leader of the worlds largest economy, he should be prepared to defend that economy at all costs; the economy is more than just the transfer of money, it is what made America great; in essence, it is the life force of America.

The actions taken by Google should be applauded, as they are standing up for the rights of private industry in a state run economy.

In a perfect world, a large company like Google would not have to listen to the governments of countries that it does not call home. If Obama wants to expand Americas economy, like he has said, then he is going to start to have to stand up for the rights of private industry, instead of letting American industry languish.

400,000 Jobs

2010-02-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Apparently, the health care reform bill that the democrats are pushing will create 4 million jobs in total and 400,000 jobs almost instantly.

This is ridiculous, the only jobs that big government create are non producing jobs (jobs based on taxes) while private industry creates producing jobs (jobs that contribute to the economy, not take away from it).

The video of Nancy Pelosi talking about the health care bill is here.

Obama The Re-distributor

2010-02-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday, President Obama disclaimed allegations that he was a Socialist. In defending his agenda, he says "We have arrived at a juncture where reasonable efforts to update our regulations, or make basic investments in our future are too often greeted with cries of government takeover or even socialism".

If Obama wanted to distance himself from socialism, then he would have never included it in his speech.

Our country does not need a wealth re-distributor, but someone who is willing to downsize government power to satisfy our countries economy, and Americas citizens right to free speech.

Layoffs Continue

2010-02-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

Despite assurances that the economy is ready to start creating jobs again, data shows that the number of layoffs in January, particularly in the manufacturing sector has risen. A total of 182,261 workers were fired last month. Some economists think that a rise in jobs will happen within months; but others are not so optimistic.

The Obama administration is manipulating the citizens of this nation to believe that their policies are working as planned; for example, for a long time after the economy started to improve the only thing that we heard about was the fact that government meddling (the bailouts) have only helped us.

It is arguable that government meddling got us into this mess in the first place; because the treasury made it so easy to have access to credit, a bubble was created that eventually burst. If the treasury didn't make interest rates so low in the first place, a bubble would never have been created, and this whole mess could have been averted.

More government intervention is the last thing that this country needs. If anything, Obama should back off.

America Under Communism

2010-02-22T17:27:00.001-08:00

An image that is becoming relevant once again.

Obama's New Healthcare Plan

2010-02-22T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today, details were leaked to the press about Obama's newest, most likely last ditch attempt to salvage his top domestic priority.

In this plan Obama would provide coverage to 31 million currently uninsured Americans, but at the same time not add to the federal deficit. Supposedly, this plan would cost 1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

The way that Obama is planning to give healthcare to all these people is to make the insurance industry much more tightly regulated; meaning that the government would have much more say in the pricing of insurance plans.

The current Obama administration policy seems to aim to nationalize private industry in its entirety. This can not be allowed.

Instead of trying to provide a relatively short term solution for the nations woes, the government should create new laws that help small business, lower taxes, and increase American innovation. Obama should know better than to try to emulate a failed political system in America.

Toyota

2010-02-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

Recently, A Toyota document appeared that stated that the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress was "activist" and "not industry friendly". This came after a recall on 8 million cars or more. I strongly agree with the sentiment taken by Toyota. But, one must look at it from Toyotas eyes. From their point of view it seems that the Obama administration is "protectionist". This is true, but instead of protecting industry, Obama is protecting the federal government; which is basically what GM and Chrysler are after the bailouts.

I would encourage Obama to be somewhat protectionist, but only in that the Administration would promote manufacturing in the United States; at the same time doing nothing to discourage foreign investment.

Toyota is also expecting a "more challenging regulatory and enforcement environment". Which, judging by the past actions of the Obama Administration we can come to expect. I anticipate an environment where any kind of regulatory approval will take twice as long as it does now if conditions do not change.

Healthcare

2010-02-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

Healthcare is one of the major issues facing Congress, the President, and the nation in general. The notion of universal healthcare is an altruistic one; tax payers will effectively give their money away to the government and not know how it is spent, and for no personal gain.

If a person is unable to afford his medical costs, then I will feel sorry for him. If I felt bad enough, I might give him money, or he would inspire me to donate to a charity that helps patients with medical costs. This is entirely different from giving money to the government in order to provide universal health care. If there was, for example a 10% increase in federal taxes in order to pay for universal healthcare, then 10% of my income is washed away. For people already paying more than 30% of their income to taxes this is unacceptable.

President Obama is going to define a new healthcare bill to be put forward in front of the senate. However, with the election of more republicans to the senate; Obama will need bipartisan support in order avoid a filibuster and further indecision.

From an economic standpoint, universal healthcare will only succeed to take money out of the economy, not put more in. The more money that is taken away from taxes, the less money that consumers have to spend; seeing as the United States is largely a consumer based economy, productive ventures (which I consider anything that has to do with business), that in the long term help grow the economy will have less money put into them.

This generation of political leaders is all about instant gratification. The recession that has gripped the world for the past couple of years, and even the dot-com bust was the result of policies that only aim to help us in the short term, paying no attention to the long term effects of these policies. America needs a government that is able to help us in the short term, in addition to taking into consideration the things that will be left behind by current policies; such as a massive federal debt.

The American Dream

2010-02-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

When Rome was at its height it controlled most of Europe, parts of Africa, and portions the Middle East. This period is called the "Pax Romana" (the Roman peace); an era of peace and prosperity for the Roman Empire.

After 1815, Britain enjoyed an era where it was unchallenged on the sea in addition to controlling most of the vital naval trade routes of the world. This era is referred to by many as the "Pax Britannica" or the British peace; a period of another great Empire at its height.

America has the potential to experience a "Pax Americana" where its power would be unchallenged. This period should have come after the fall of the Soviet Union; however, because of the lack of proper leadership and economic policies that only manage to accomplish indecision and economic decline-- if anything. We, the greatest free nation on the planet have not been able to reach the full potential of our military and economic power.

The United States became great because of the free market. It is as if we are moving more and more away from that policy every single day; exemplified with the rise of the welfare state. The only way that this country will not become a collectivist dystopia is by embracing the ideals of a bygone generation; that of hard work, capitalism, and the American Dream.