Tag Archives: economy

Who Is John Galt?

Posted on by sjcammenga
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After recently finishing Atlas Shrugged for the first time I could finally answer this question for myself. Perhaps stemming from the state of the economy, Atlas Shrugged has become wildly popular; after selling 200 thousand copies in 2008 it sold half a million in 2009. Although I beg to differ from much of Rand’s objectivist philosophy of life, where economics and politics are concerned I found she had some terrific insights which are applicable today.

John Galt is the man who felt no debt to society and took care of himself, not asking for handouts from anyone nor giving any. When the government demanded he give his mind and money for others who did not work for it, he went on strike and took the other movers of his world with him. With them gone, the nation went to pieces as the government watched each regulation they made cause more damage than the one before.

In our day as well, where there is a crisis more government control seems to appear. The increased regulations and restrictions on production cause more problems which the government again steps in to fix. What could help the people is the exact opposite, freedom to spend their own money and produce at their maximum capacity without restrictions.

An intriguing, though very time consuming read, the length gives you the time to digest how each directive affects jobs and production and how the businesses relate to one another. Competition is welcomed and there is no place for the government’s force – only for the justice of receiving what one has earned. Though this does let some have more than others, it harkens back to the old quote “free people are not equal and equal people are not free.”

Obama in Holland MI

Posted on by sjcammenga
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Earlier this summer, Vice President Biden visited a battery plant in Midland. This week another visitor from the White House visited a battery plant in Michigan: President Obama himself.

Obama called it a rebound from desperate times. Apparently he feels pressured to demonstrate that his administration has made progress and this plant seems like a poster child for his plan. Not only should it create jobs for 300 full-time workers; it doubles as a step toward his desire for clean energy.

According to the Associated Press, though the Holland battery plant was built with $2.4 billion of stimulus money awarded by the government and is the ninth factory to be constructed with stimulus money, Obama declared that government programs were not the goal. Instead, he wants to unleash private sector growth.

I would suggest unleashing this growth with less regulations and taxes, making it easier for anyone in the private sector to obtain property and support a business. Just a thought.

Don’t Feed the Animals

Posted on by razma766
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republican_logoKurt Bouwhuis, Mackinac Center Intern

“You actually have a consensus among conservative, Republican-leaning economists and liberal, left-leaning economists. And the consensus is this: that we have to do whatever it takes to get this economy moving again, that we’re going to have to spend money now to stimulate the economy,” Obama said on the program, which aired Sunday.

I hope “whatever it takes” does not include creating money out of thin air and distributing it to individuals and businesses at arbitrary quantities that bureaucrats sees fit.  I also hope Obama and his board of economists understand that you do not grow an economy with spending, but rather, investment.  You will see short run benefits from spending, but you will see stable long term growth with investment.  This is assuming there are no entities messing around with the interest rates (Fed), sending inaccurate market signals to capitalists and entrepreneurs, causing an inefficient allocation of resources.

donkey-democrat-logo1Sounds to me as though this “market crisis” will convey enough insecurity to pave the way for the unveiling of a new New Deal.  Together, these two parties will lead us down a path where we will continue to live way beyond our means through the creation of numerous short run solutions. If we truly want to “fix” the economy, we may want to look at what makes an economy prosper.  I would argue prosperity comes from allowing an economy to create goods and services that are demanded by consumers around the globe at a profitable price.  If your economy is creating goods and services that people want, your economy will prosper.  Aiding the economy has nothing to do with printing money, or stimulus checks, or public health care, or tampering with the interest rates, or subsidizing, or regulating…  An economy will prosper when it is allowed to produce.

“Poor governance creates poor policy. That’s what we have.”

Posted on by lmruhland
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–Lauren Ruhland, 2008 MCPP intern

It doesn’t get much more explicit than that.  From the Associated Press via Mlive:

Michigan’s economy suffers not from a dependance on auto manufacturing but from poor governance, said Robert Genetski, an economist from Chicago.

Genetski, Heartland Institute policy adviser, offered research that showed Michigan’s decline from being one of the healthiest economies in the nation in the 1960s to the poorest in the nation the past five years.

“Michigan ranks 50 out of 50 states,” he said.

Although many blame the state of the manufacturing industry for the state’s tough economic position, Genetski disagrees.

“Poor governance creates poor policy. That’s what we have,” he said.

He said Michigan governance is moving away from classic principles of a strong economy: low tax rates, free markets, protecting individual property rights and stable prices.

In addition to the article linked above, there’s more from Robert Genetski here.

About RTW

Posted on by rombachk
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by Kahryn Rombach, 2008 MCPP Intern

One of the reforms that the MCPP urges be made to Michigan public policy is the enactment of Right to Work (RTW) legislation. RTW prohibits the types of agreements between unions and employers which make union membership (or financial support of the union) a prerequisite to employment with that establishment.

Until the late 1940′s, businesses associated under the National Labor Relations Act struck then-legal “closed shop” agreements in which union membership was a condition of employment for all. Under these arrangements, an employee who left the union for any reason (from refusal to pay dues to involuntary expulsion from the union as a form of punishment) also lost his job, even if he had not violated any of his employer’s rules. Continue reading →

We Can Fix That Too!

Posted on by jsrule
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<>< Josh Rule : : 2008 MCPP Intern

Yesterday, I wrote about the Aerolineas Argentinas, which, although privatized for nearly 20 years, is now being nationalized again.  As I wrote the article, I was thinking to myself, “Why do governments always make the mistake of getting involved in private business?  At least nothing quite so blatant is happening in the U.S. right now.  We are all too focused on the election.”

I stand corrected. Continue reading →

We’re Not the Only Ones

Posted on by jsrule
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<>< Josh Rule : : 2008 MCPP Intern

Other folks are writing about the airline’s open letter on oil speculation as well.  More to be added as we come across it (and we think it is worth posting…).

Café Hayek: http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2008/07/oil-speculation.html

Money.CNN.Com: http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/09/news/companies/airlines_speculation_letter/index.htm?cnn=yes

Improvements of Olympic Proportions

Posted on by hkmead
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-Hannah Mead, MCPP Intern, 2008

Four years ago, I obsessively watched NBC’s frustratingly delayed, hand-picked and limited TV coverage of the Athens summer Olympics. When a necessary two-day trip pulled me away from civilization (read: Internet access), I made calls to the local paper to find out if Michael Phelps was still winning all his races. When I returned home, I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world because I could watch little 4-minute video clips on nbcolympics.com of the highlights of what I’d missed.

Now, I am nearly devastated by the fact that, after four years of waiting, I must spend the 2008 Olympics week at a conference. However, I am greatly encouraged by the long segments of the U.S. Olympic Trials available on nbcolympics, and pleased so far with my experience with Microsoft’s new silverlight. I’m sure I’ll sit in my hotel room and connect wirelessly with my little laptop to watch extensive Olympics coverage — something I wouldn’t have counted on or even necessarily thought of in 2004. And if I were moderately well-off, I would have one of those fancy phones and no doubt watch the whole thing live on it.

The Olympics are really a spectacular marker to note the technological progress we’ve made. Four years is a good length of time: long enough to show drastic changes, and short enough to recall what life was like before. We can’t deny that technology is still improving in leaps and bounds. Maybe in four years, I’ll actually be at the Olympics — no technology could ever be a substitute that.

What’s That You Got Over There by the Fridge?

Posted on by jsrule
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<>< Josh Rule : : 2008 MCPP Intern

ITM-Power, a UK-based enterprise dedicated to “provid[ing] all aspects of the technology necessary to make the “hydrogen economy” a commercial reality”, has recently announced a product that could place them one step closer to that goal.  Today, they introduced a home refueling station that uses electrolysis to create hydrogen that could be used to power a car, heat a home, cook food, or even power a refridgerator.  ITM-Power plans to have the device, which takes slightly less space than said refridgerator, on the market within two years for under £2000 (about $3947.44 on today’s exchange).

The development should be welcomed for a number of reasons, the most apparent of which is the beginnings of viable competition with an oil-based fuel economy.  In the past, hydrogen has been relegated to the shadows largely because it was unaffordable.  The materials, among which Platinum played an important role, were quite expensive, and the hydrogen itself was difficult to store.  ITM-Power has worked to solve those problems by introducing this new product, which makes no use of Platinum, making hydrogen at roughly 1% of the cost of previous devices.  Further, the station is relatively affordable, and runs off simply water and electricity, so ITM-Power is hoping businesses and individuals will create a decentralized network of fueling stations worldwide.  Although, I suppose only time will tell.  What do you think about hydrogen fuel cells and the call for ridding the world of fossil fuel dependence?  Are they viable products and realistic claims, or the work of idealists and dreamers?  Let us know in the comments below.

Beat that dead horse

Posted on by hkmead
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-Hannah Mead, MCPP intern, 2008

I’m always baffled by Michigan’s economic improvement strategy: tax the successful businesses to subsidize unviable ones.

Commenting on new “job-creating measures,” Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Speaker of the House Andy Dillon remarked,

At a time when more job-seekers are entering the workforce, Michigan’s already battered economy is feeling the effects of a struggling national economy being driven by a crisis in the subprime market and high oil prices.

Their solution? Film incentives, tourism promotion (which focus, as my coworker regularly notes, is counteracted by our torn-up roads) and “a loan program for job creation or retention projects.”

The Mackinac Center’s Jack McHugh provides alternative analysis of Michigan’s obscene unemployment: Continue reading →

And in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

Posted on by lmruhland
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Lauren Ruhland, 2008 MCPP intern

It’s not all that shocking, but a new survey says that Michiganders don’t think very highly of their elected officials:

Michigan’s citizens hold their government leaders in low regard, at or near the bottom in rankings of Midwest state residents surveyed by a group of government reform advocacy organizations released Thursday.

Only 11% of those surveyed in Michigan said the Legislature was doing a good job, lowest of respondents from five states (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). The 2008 Midwest Political Reform Survey found that 21% of the state’s residents thought Gov. Jennifer Granholm was doing a good job.

I have to point out that the sample size is pretty small–400 Michiganders and 1600 in other Midwestern states– but the results sound plausible to me.  Unsurprisingly, the respondents’four biggest concerns for Michigan are gas prices, jobs, the economy and health care.  As Hannah mentioned yesterday, the governor is already working on the first one.  The survey doesn’t distinguish between dissatisfaction over legislative overaction vs. inaction, but it’s probably safe to assume that most unhappy Michiganders would like to see more government intervention in these issues, not less.

(And if you were wondering about that headline…)