Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Broken Window Fallacy

Liberals are constantly insisting that government spending will stimulate the economy and create lots of jobs. Here is all you need to know to realize how wrong that theory is:



It’s that simple. Wealth can either stay in the private sector or the government can rip it out and use it for it’s own purposes. Anytime the government takes wealth out of the private sector that will, inevitably, result in lower productivity from the private sector.

That, of course, leaves us to one conclusion. The only way you can believe that government programs stimulate the economy is if you believe that the government is more efficient than the private sector. And the only way you can believe the government is more efficient than the private sector is if you’re a life-long shut-in who is also high on crack.

Therefor the government should stick to taking wealth out of the private sector only when necessary. In other words, the government should stick to things that it and only it can or should do. And though we may debate about what exactly it is that only the government can or should do but, surely, providing cocaine to monkeys and many many many many many many other things our government currently does is beyond it’s proper role.

Stephen Gutowski