Tweet [1]
My intrepid Mercatus Center colleague Veronique de Rugy laments a recent bumper-crop of cronyism [2]. A slice:
But none of Trump’s trade war victims are as powerful and important a voting bloc as farmers, who secured two agriculture bailouts over the past two years, totaling $28 billion — so far. For perspective, Bloomberg reminds us that this “farm rescue is more than twice as expensive as the 2009 bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, which cost taxpayers $12 billion.” Many Republicans at the time rightfully decried the auto bailout, yet most have nothing to say about the farm bailouts. Many have even joined in and demanded more for the farmers in their states.
The senator says big corporations “control our economy.” That’s a bit hyperbolic, though they do maintain a strong influence over public policy, and not always for the greater good. However, corporations have a prominent seat at the policy table mainly because the federal government’s expansive powers are an invitation to sit at it. Rearranging the chairs or adding more won’t change that fact. Changing the menu — limiting the government’s ability to offer buffet-style dining to special interests — would.
Nick Gillespie isn’t impressed with the gospel according to St. Greta [4].
Vincent Geloso explains what in the 19th century saved the whales [5].
Pierre Lemieux is correct that Trump is no friend of liberty [6].
In this video, John Stossel explores seasteading [7].
Frank Hollenbeck is justly critical of Trump’s utter failure to understand trade [8].
Also dissecting Trump’s boundless ignorance of trade and globalization is Cato’s Dan Ikenson [9]. Here’s his conclusion:
Washington’s cadre of pro-trade, multilateral, internationalists—among whom I count myself—has failed to convince President Trump and those who favor his America-first brand of economic nationalism that trade is a win-win proposition and that the post-war liberal order underpinning globalization, while not perfect, should be salvaged and renovated, rather the wrecked. We need to do better.
At the UN today, Trump claimed: “The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.” But the smartest patriots know that liberty at home is nourished by economic growth, which is fostered by trade, globalization and its well-functioning institutions.