Engines of Destruction - Editorial Commentary - Thomas G. Donlan - Barrons.com

Engines of Destruction - Editorial Commentary - Thomas G. Donlan - Barrons.com:
"People may wonder what the cures are but, the cures are totally unacceptable as long as the government can borrow money to feed the maw of socially conscious equality of outcomes.

We all know the solution - at least at some deep down level.

In other words, there is no free lunch. When you take from producers and give to non-producers, gee-whiz, the producers have less incentive to work hard and produce more.

As with overspending on credit cards, the only recourse may be to go bankrupt and get a new start.

Sadly for the US, the government is going to spend, borrow and tax every dollar they can get their hands on to delay this need.

And, as a result it may feel good for a while (albeit we have effectively 1 in 5 unemployed, underemployed or having given up on looking for a job), but that still leaves lots of believers in OandP magic.

We need to let people keep more of what they earn (income or investment income) and government has to give away less. In that way, when a young family wants a house, they can save more of their income (it won't go to give healthcare to the elderly and poor, it won't go to overpay public employees, etc.) and employers can better lower their costs of labor and reduce their costs of capital - in that way, the US will have a better economic base to compete in a changing world."