Cato credits free enterprise for our 20th-century success, and cites an increase in the size of government as one of the few negative trends of the past 10 decades. The air, Cato says, is 97 percent cleaner. But it was government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, that forced polluting corporations to clean up. Wages are up since 1900. No thanks come from Cato for the minimum wage laws that helped fuel wage growth.
Electricity is widespread, indeed, partly due to government rural electrification programs.
Deaths caused by infectious diseases are down. Let s give credit to public health agencies. Home ownership is up. Hail the income tax deduction for mortgage interest a government subsidy and federal and state programs that encourage home-buying. The work week, Cato claims, is 30 percent shorter.