"These policies have resulted in job losses"
Can someone explain to me how the recent government policies have lead to job losses. I have always thought the opposite was true.
The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
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Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#12Let me fix the lede:
"Policies recently enacted by Democrats are ruining the country, according to a set of rankings released today by a conservative think tank which believes Democrats will ruin the country and a conservative newspaper which believes Democrats will ruin the country."
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#13Economic freedom isn't worth squat if you have no human rights.
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#14Economic freedom isn't worth squat if you have no human rights.
Economic freedom is a human right.
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#15"These policies have resulted in job losses" Can someone explain to me how the recent government policies have lead to job losses. I have always thought the opposite was true.
There's plenty of explanations out there, if you care to look.
Of course, there's also plenty of explanations about how government policies have created new jobs.
Measuring results and identifying causal relationships is incredibly difficult in economics, and with all the associated political issues at stake it's hard to cut through all the bullshit.
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#16Economic freedom isn't worth squat if you have no human rights.
Economic freedom is a human right.
...but not the only one. For instance, #2 on the list there is Singapore, which is somewhat infamous as a semi-authoritarian society with, for instance, many restrictions on freedom of speech and laws criminalizing various types of undesired behavior, such as littering, jaywalking, chewing gum, and not flushing toilets. (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Singapore#Criminal_law )
On the other hand, they have little corruption and low crime rates, so hey, if it works for them...
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
The index is mostly useless, just a collection of random quantifiers averaged together with little apparent thought put into variable selection, weighting or statistical methods. It is useful as a collection of data sources though.
Is it possible to quantify the level of respect governments have for property right? Is it possible to quantify the level of regulations and rules made up by government?
1) Define property rights, the ways governments can infringe on them and then assign values to those infractions.
2) In part, you can measure the amount of paperwork and time delay in achieving common tasks, like buying land, building a warehouse and incorporating. The sheer number of regulations may also be an indicator for the amount of friction the government is introducing. Defining "level of regulations and rules" is also important in order to come up with a good quantification scheme.
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Economic freedom is a human right.
...but not the only one. For instance, #2 on the list there is Singapore, which is somewhat infamous as a semi-authoritarian society with, for instance, many restrictions on freedom of speech and laws criminalizing various types of undesired behavior, such as littering, jaywalking, chewing gum, and not flushing toilets. (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Singapore#Criminal_law ) On the other hand, they have lit…
See also, the State of World Liberty index:
http://stateofworldliberty.org/report/results.html
http://stateofworldliberty.org/report/rankings.html
They attempt to get a broader view of freedom by including other indices.
Their tops, from 2006: Estonia, Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, Iceland, Bahamas, United Kingdom
And then, finally, United States
Singapore is ranked 49th, on account of being ranked 95th in the "individual freedom" category.
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#19Let me fix the lede: "Policies recently enacted by Democrats are ruining the country, according to a set of rankings released today by a conservative think tank which believes Democrats will ruin the country and a conservative newspaper which believes Democrats will ruin the country."
So, would you say that "protectionist trade restrictions, massive stimulus spending and bailouts of financial and automotive firms deemed 'too big to fail.'" from the past year are positive, or have increased economic freedom?
If so, why not address those points rather than deploy ad hominems?
Re: The U.S. Isn't As Economically Free As It Used to Be
#20Let me fix the lede: "Policies recently enacted by Democrats are ruining the country, according to a set of rankings released today by a conservative think tank which believes Democrats will ruin the country and a conservative newspaper which believes Democrats will ruin the country."
So, would you say that "protectionist trade restrictions, massive stimulus spending and bailouts of financial and automotive firms deemed 'too big to fail.'" from the past year are positive, or have increased economic freedom? If so, why not address those points rather than deploy ad hominems?
Probably because there's not really much substance to address. Most commentary on "economics" is barely-disguised political advocacy, starting with a conclusion and then working backwards to come up with arguments, and this article is even more egregious than most. Lots of argument-by-assertion and emotionally-loaded phrasing, and a general attitude of having all the answers.
I expect it wouldn't be too hard to find a similar article from an "opposing position" with all the same muddled thinking and question begging, but what would that really accomplish? This sort of nonsense goes firmly in the "not even wrong" bin.
Stuff like this is more about social status-seeking and in-group identity than about the ostensible topic.