Greg Kelver is a former Chairman of the LaPorte County Libertarian Party and representative to the LPIN State Central Committee. He is the primary contributor to the LaPorter County Liberty Blog.
LaPorte, IN -- If I tried to get people to like me a little better by sending them “rebate” checks using money that I did not have in my bank account but could only get by forcibly taking it from someone else (aka theft), it probably wouldn’t be very long till LaPorte County Sheriff Mollenhauer and Prosecutor Beckman sent out a few of their guys to bring me in for a little chat.
But somehow, when our esteemed politicians do exactly that same thing and give it a fancy name like “Economic Stimulus Payment” nobody seems to notice that Big Gov is spending money that it doesn’t have either. And the only way that they can get it is by forcibly taking it either directly in the form of increased taxation or indirectly by printing more inflation stressed dollars that cause $4 gallon gas and struggling families to pay more and more for less and less.
In the spirit of economic good sportsmanship, President “W” and his Congressional Cohorts who gave birth to the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, should be thrilled to hear that I have just received and quickly spent my “Economic Stimulus Payment” - every last cent of it. To get the biggest bang for my stimulated buck, I just invested it with some guy named Bob Barr 08, and Libertarian Partiers in Washington D.C., Indianapolis, and LaPorte County.
Let the good times roll!
Milton Friedman
I have been reading the Book "Free to Choose" by Milton and Rose Friedman, and he describes this scenerio exactly. He calls it "inflationary monetary growth" (aka: Economic Stimulus). In the book he describes the scenerio as creating a burst of growth(more jobs, higher pay). Initially, the producers will think they are experiencing higher demand and increase production to correspond. The demand will stay inflated which will cause the producer to look for more alternatives to their supply. Ultimately, the prices will stay inflated, and overtime you get less for you buck. The goverment response to inflation is more inflation. I recommend everyone read this book. It was written in the 1970s, but it resonates perfectly today. We are in the wake of the "perfect economic storm". The huge deficit,the war,the increased printing of money is going to create an implosion. The result will be more government control. The same thing happened in the depression era. Greg Kelver hit the nail right on the head,well done.