Try it, you will be surprised at the results. Ignore it to your detriment
There are 2 forces in the world which are very powerful:
Incentives - motivation to take some action.
Inertia - the tendency to keep on keeping on.
It isn't magic, if we are motivated to do something, we do it. If we are not motivated, we will just keep on truckin’.
Economists understand that and much more. The classical economists and philosophers of the world get it. Consider the writings of John Locke or Adam Smith. We won’t go into the details in this short piece, but let’s look at their most important points.
The Invisible Hand: People are motivated by self-interest, plain and simple. Adam Smith wrote about something that seems easy to understand: that we are motivated to do what is in our own best interest. In his two seminal works, The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, he explains what is morally right and wrong and how wealth is created by the “invisible hand” that guides our own self-interest, and results in a properly run economic system. If we are free to pursue our own interests, we will, and we succeed by serving the desires of others and in turn, maximizing wealth for all people. The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, the year of our founding - but it seems we have been gradually forgetting its lessons since then.
Individual Rights: we as individuals have the right to our life and property. It is a natural right belonging to us because it is in our nature as human beings. John Locke (1632-1704), wrote about this concept in his classic book, Two Treatises of Government, which was published in 1689. Natural law that arises from our nature as human beings is what we should be governed by. Much of his philosophy is embodied in our Declaration of Independence, which was the basis for our Constitution.
The professionals of the world will chastise me for my oversimplification of the complex thoughts of these two philosophers, but these are key items they understood and wrote about. Our founding fathers stood on the shoulders of these giants that came before them. The profound thoughts of these economists and philosophers laid the theoretical basis for our Country’s founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
The economic systems that have been established using these premises work and work well. This entails private property, rule of law, and individual rights. We are free to do what we want as long as we do no harm to others.
‘Within the bounds of civility, we are free’. That is a quote on one of the sculptures I commissioned some years ago. I believe it. Leave us alone, let us be free, and Adam Smith’s invisible hand guides us to work to benefit ourselves, and consequently meet the needs of others, making everybody better off. That is how an economy prospers, that is how individuals prosper. But, we are not free to violate the rights of others, as then we are outside the boundaries of civility.
We lived for many years by sound economic principles after our founding, in accordance with our Founding Documents. We prospered. But, but, but, our government in its infinite wisdom has destroyed much of what made us great, the greatest nation in history. We have usurped freedom, and the federal government has become a ruling class in which an unaccountable bureaucracy tells us what to do, how to behave and even what we can buy or not buy.
What I do with my time and money is my business, not the government’s. Leave us alone!!!
BOTTOM LINE
Good economic systems work well for the people. Follow the principles which make sense, and we will all be better off. Interfere for the ‘good of the people’ and watch us slowly burn, as we are burning now. Yes, we are in serious trouble economically, which few believe - next week I will tell you why and prove it to you.
In our recent book, The Greatest Ponzi Scheme on Earth, Dan Mitchell, a professional economist and I, a concerned citizen in this country, explained in Section II which economies succeeded and why, and which failed their people and why. We draw easy conclusions about what works and what doesn’t.
It’s not magic, it's just good economics.
LEARN ECONOMICS, THEN VOTE SMART
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