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John Cochrane does his best to figure out what can possibly be in the minds of well-intentioned people who support the Obama administration’s new overtime-pay regulations [4]. (To figure out such a thing is a difficult task for a good economist, given that those regulations have zero economic logic if the goal of their proponents is to help lower-paid workers.)
Sooner or later, competition and disruption challenge every industry and market. The pain they can inflict is real, but far greater and more enduring are the benefits and prosperity they generate. American steel mills are understandably chagrined that competitors from China are beating them on price. But cheaper steel also means more affordable cars, homes, and appliances for tens of millions of Americans. It means more employment at General Motors, Boeing, and John Deere. Jacking up steel prices through “antidumping” tariffs and other protectionist measures makes life more expensive for all of us and jeopardizes far more jobs than it saves.
As much as I would like to enjoy rubbing [Chavez-admirer David] Sirota’s nose in his own mind-bending stupidity, I cannot rejoice for I know that Venezuela’s descent into chaos – hyperinflation, empty shops, out-of-control violence and the collapse of basic public services – will not be the last time we hear of a collapsing socialist economy. Looking into the future, it is safe to predict that more countries will refuse to learn from history and give socialism “a go”. And, I am equally certain that there will be, to use Lenin’s words, “useful idiots,” like David Sirota, who will sing socialism’s praises until the moment when the last light goes out and time comes for them to move on and find something else to write about. And that begs an important question: considering that socialism has failed wherever it has been tried, why do we persist in trying to make it work?
(HT Mark Cancellieri [7]. It’s bad enough when non-economist pundits such as David Sirota and Chesa Boudin sing the praises of heavy-handed government interventions and ‘redistribution,’ but as this Cafe Hayek post from yesterday [8] suggests, it’s far worse when professional economists – particularly ones boasting Nobel Prizes – fail to warn of the calamities that await any people who are so unfortunate as to live under such economic ‘systems.’)
George Will for President! [9] Here’s part of the very short inaugural address that a Pres. Will would deliver:
This will be enough business for Day One of my first 100 days. And I promise you this: On the 100th day of my administration, America will be . . . pretty much indistinguishable from what it is today. Would you, my over-excited countrymen, really want it any other way? Would you really want to live in a nation that can be substantially changed in a matter of a few months by a hyperactive government?