Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy » Robert Higgs

Why Less Government Spending Would Mean Less Economic Trouble

Robert Higgs — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:37:14 +0000

Many economists say deficit spending is crucial to keeping the economy moving. But history tells a different story.

Though our current economic troubles are complex, many mainstream economists have endorsed the simplistic Keynesian theory that massive government spending will produce jobs and prosperity.

From such Keynesian thinking have flowed the "stimulus" and bailout measures [...]

Defense Spending Is Much Greater than You Think

Robert Higgs — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:07:47 +0000

Few Americans appreciate that the total amount of all defense-related spending greatly exceeds the amount budgeted for the Department of Defense.

When President Obama presented his budget recently for fiscal year 2011, he proposed that the Pentagon's outlays be increased by about 4.5 percent beyond its estimated outlays in fiscal 2010, to a total of [...]

Is the Current Recovery a Pinata with No Candy Inside?

Robert Higgs — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:23:21 +0000

Recent changes give little warrant to the expectation of a full, sustainable recovery in the near term.

Many commentators would have us believe that the economy hit bottom in the second quarter of 2009, and afterward commenced a recovery, albeit a "jobless" one, as employment continued to decline. The main reason for believing in this [...]

Mommas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Report on the Government’s Financial Reforms

Robert Higgs — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:30:39 +0000

If you do, they will almost certainly disgrace your family.

If you do, they will almost certainly disgrace your family by writing reports that can be interpreted in only two ways: (1) the reporter is a shill for the government, passing off government propaganda as news and analysis; and (2) the reporter is dreadfully [...]

Jesus on Property Rights and Resource Preservation

Robert Higgs — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:30:42 +0000

If you don't care for economic theory or econometrics, just read the Bible.

When I began my academic career, I was fortunate to work in a department of economics in which several of my colleagues, including Yoram Barzel, Steven N. S. Cheung, and Douglass C. North, had a keen interest in property rights and their [...]

Why Do Progressives Love Trains?

Robert Higgs — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:13:13 +0000

A substantial contingent of Democrats seems to love passenger-rail subsidies for reasons that have little or nothing to do with pork for their friends.

The headline reads "Obama's Rail Plan Speeds Ahead," and the article explains that President Obama has "unveiled his plan to develop a high-speed passenger rail (HSR) system in the United States." [...]

Give Bernanke Credit—For Chutzpah

Robert Higgs — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:00:13 +0000

In view of the Fed's fundamental, if wholly unacknowledged, role in bringing about the world's present economic debacle, the question that Bernanke's current proposals immediately raise could not be more obvious: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

In my mind's eye, I envision a street fair– one of those happy community gatherings at which sellers of handcrafted ceramics, funky [...]

Recession and Recovery: Six Fundamental Errors of the Current Orthodoxy

Robert Higgs — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:04:33 +0000

Vulgar Keynesianism, which purports to be an economic model or at least a coherent framework of economic analysis, actually excludes the very possibility of genuine economic action, substituting for it a simple, mechanical conception, the intellectual equivalent of a baby toy.

As the recession has deepened and the financial debacle has passed from one [...]

It Would Be Cheaper to Fight World War II Again

Robert Higgs — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:00:00 +0000

President Barack Obama promises that the deficit will be brought down to $1,170 billion in fiscal year 2010. Don't bank on it.

What is the right word to describe the U.S. government's current and proposed fiscal condition: fantastic, unbelievable, surreal? The Obama administration now expects a budget deficit in fiscal year 2009 of $1,750 billion, or more than 12 percent [...]

These Projects Are Shovel-Ready, All Right

Robert Higgs — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:00:14 +0000

The Democrats are using the alleged crisis as the pretext for a monumental looting of the taxpayers.

I've been a little too busy to read the 647-page "stimulus" bill the House just approved and the Senate is set to consider. So, for the moment, I must rely on what others, such as the Wall [...]