From: john@anasazi.com (John R. Moore)
Subject: Re: Bush is a mother fucker
Reply-To: john@anasazi.com
Organization: Anasazi Inc, Phoenix AZ USA
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 04:31:02 GMT

Keywords: 

In article <1992Sep9.191920.23650@technology.com> richard@technology.com (Richard Murphy) writes:
]In article <1992Sep9.041119.25288@anasazi.com> john@anasazi.com writes:
][stuff deleted]
]>
]>I'll bet you hold him responsible for this year's bad weather, too. I don't
]>know about you, but I don't put my faith in ANY government official to
]>improve the economy. The best official is one who would get as much government
]>as possible OUT of the economy, and Bush is more in that direction than
]>Clinton.
]>
]I know this "keep government out of the economy" is the key point to
]the republican ideology, but.....the examples of Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc.
]seem to indicate that there can be a very close relationship between the
]government and the economy and things can work out very well. I think this

No, they show that if a government is going to be involved, it can do
it better than the US government does. On the other hand, if you take
the example of Japan, you find:
   -massive corruption of government
   -very little economic power in the hands of individuals (you cannot
    buy or sell small amounts of stock, for example)
   -exorbitant prices to consumers
   -a not very good standard of living.

The government there, in cooperation with the big companies, has abused
Japanese consumers and workers to achieve this "success." I can do without
that kind of "work out very well." In Singapore, you have a strongly
authoritarian government.... I don't think that's too good an idea either.

]phrase is like a mantra...if you say it enough the economy prospers. I don't
]think anyone has a definite idea of what they mean when they want "government
]out". I think it is a total fiction to imagine that somehow government, "the
]economy", and society are separate entities, especially in a world that is
]increasingly without borders. While "true believers" say this in terms of
]the federal government, what of state and local governments?

The point is not to imagine that government can stay completely out
of the economy, but to attempt to minimize the amount of unnecessary
interference in the economy. A good start at that is to try to get
folks to realize how counterproductive most (not all) government
intervention is. Anyone who knows how the innards of the US government
works has to know that decisions, rather than being made on economic
grounds, are made on the basis of politics, bureaucratic turf wars
and special interests. Such a system is bound to be a poor creator of
jobs or wealth.

]
]When I talk to people about this face to face, it always comes back to taxes.
]As long as they are not taxed, the government can do what it wants to someone else...

You must be talking to some pretty shallow people.... for example, those who
buy the democratic promise to only tax "the rich." Taxing is only one of
the ways that government destroys wealth. Other ways include distorting
economic incentive; punitive taxation (such as the US taxes on capital
gains and interest); regulation without cost/benefit analyses (such
as much of the environmental regulation); a legal system that discourages
innovation and investment.

-- 
John Moore NJ7E, 7525 Clearwater Pkwy, Scottsdale, AZ 85253  (602-951-9326)
john@anasazi.com ncar!noao!asuvax!anasaz!john anasaz!john@asuvax.eas.asu.edu
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