It’s no secret that America’s economy hasn’t been growing as quickly as anyone would like since the official end of the Great Recession. The economic recovery has been far slower than recoveries from previous economic downturns. Economist John B. Taylor, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and professor at Stanford University, believes a change in government policies could help produce better economic outcomes. He shared his ideas in a 2015 John W. Pope Lecture at N.C. State University titled “A Renewal of First Principles.” Taylor discussed these principles with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
RALEIGH — Two decades have passed since Jack Kemp earned national headlines as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1996, but his political legacy continues. A new book labels Kemp “the bleeding-heart conservative who changed America.” Co-author Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard and political commentator for Fox News. Barnes discussed Kemp’s role in American political history with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
RALEIGH — A key ingredient of economic success is economic freedom. Scott Beaulier, executive director of the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University, recently made that argument during a presentation at Campbell University titled “The Institutional Foundations of Economic Freedom.” Beaulier also discussed the topic with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
The policies of the Bush administration did, indeed, get us into this economic disaster. And the intensification of these policies has caused continued economic stagnation and increased unemployment.
After promising change, the 44th president simply expanded on his predecessor’s bad economic ideas.
RALEIGH — Some people believe the recent economic collapse should lead to increased government regulation. They say unfettered free markets caused the problems that continue to plague the American economy. Robert Murphy, adjunct scholar at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, offers a different perspective. The author of both The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism and The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal discussed the economy with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
RALEIGH — People of all political persuasions have been asking why the American economy sank to such depths in 2008 and 2009. Some blame the deregulation of the Bush years. Thomas Woods, senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, offers a different perspective. The author of the book Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse discussed the economy with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
So after a recession caused by excessive borrowing, the Inflate Now faction wants to give the government more tools to promote future excessive borrowing.
Just about everyone in Washington who exercised power over the housing and financial industries during the past two decades deserve some of the blame for the financial meltdown.
If you’re not following the debate between John Taylor and Alan Greenspan, you’re not paying attention to the central controversy of the present moment.
Critics are right to question the economic legacy of the now-ended Bush administration – but most of them are wrong about the specifics.
