I used to spend an hour each morning reading various newspapers. When they were real paper, we took three and I looked at all of them. This morning I was done in about fifteen minutes.
Part of that, I admit, was the switch from paper to browser. Somehow I see fewer stories that grab my interest. Today my interest has turned away from many things.
At first it was the names of two who will remain nameless. This morning, having reconciled myself (it says here) to calling one of them Mr. President, I looked for a fresh eye on the news. Oh well.
There was one story on the economy whose conclusion was that it takes a great deal to derail the U.S. economy. The story compared today to the Great Depression and recounted the missteps of President Hoover, President Roosevelt, and the Congress, all of which turned a bad economy into a disaster.
The stars of that show were the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 and the ensuing trade war. When I was paying attention to the pronouncements of the Unnamable Two, I found them agreeing on trying this line again. I guess I’m hoping that enough members of Congress stayed awake in their Econ classes to halt this nonsense. [Time to thank God and the Founding Fathers that export duties are unconstitutiona.—KD]
Washington acts like a gorilla in a rowboat, tipping it and tipping it and tipping it until the whole thing is under water. Or capsized.
And so, Mr. President-elect, please, please abandon the notion that any government can manage any economy. It has been forty-seven years and twelve presidencies since the stock market crash in 1929. We’ve gone through all sorts of things, including unconstitutional acts, in pursuit of the perfectly managed economy. What stands out is that we do better when Washington does less.