Where are the jobs?

First, I'm not going to cite anyone else's writing for this blog. All of the thoughts and opinions posted here were concocted from the same media available to everyone with a television, radio, and internet connection.

So, everyone wants to know why there aren't any jobs? Why is it that we aren't seeing a recovery in employment? Well, we are still facing a lack of "consumer confidence". But what is "consumer confidence"?

In the past (prior to the advent of the internet, 24 hour news, and instantaneous communication across the globe) consumer confidence was largely a measure of gossip, the markets, and household economics. Specifically, each trader would be  concerned with what impact each of these indicators would have the on a random sample of households in the near future. But, today the metric practically serves as a negative feedback loop.

Imagine yourself screaming for help in an echo chamber. The more your anguished cries reverberate out into the abyss, the more you feel a false sense of panic by those screams returning to you. This is much the same way that the modern media landscape exists in a state of financial turmoil.

Prior to the winter of 2008, when was the last time you truly thought or cared about the economy? We all know people who are seemingly always between jobs, but we only feel this is a "social problem" when the media perpetuates the drumbeat of economic despair. I am not denying the suffering of those who are losing their homes, and as a result are losing their jobs and struggling to pay their bills. The problem lies in our collective obsession with the constant feed of bad news. Our perverse obsession with reality television has now turned into a wicked game of a self reflection. We are collectively salivating in anticipation of the next piece of bad news. Our desire to see which company is posting layoffs this week (the number of websites devoted to tracking this is depressing in itself), or which Kardashian sister is getting divorced, is what is causing our self inflicted wounds.

So, now it must be asked. What are the leaders of our two political parties doing?

The Democrats and Republicans are sitting back and pointing fingers, big surprise. Good old Keynsianism will dig us out of this hole, and restore U.S. to our former glory! No, say the Republicans, we have to engage in "voodoo economics" in order to solve the problems in the economy, spending gets us nowhere! But the fact of the matter is that both are wrong.

The Austrian School of economics espouses the value of perfect information for the consumer. Yet, to my knowledge, no Austrian economist has been criticizinh the flawed nature of our economic indicators. And that these indicators, produced by our Government, and amplified by our markets, are largely responsible for market volatility; which in turn impacts consumer confidence.

In my most un-humbled opinion, if you truly want to solve the problem with job creation in America; stop listening to what you hear on the radio, stop paying attention to what you watch on television, and pay attention to your own personal economy.

Buy what you KNOW you can afford, spend what KNOW you can, and save what you KNOW you need. Don't let the media influence your financial decisions!

Or, you can plan on being the first generation of Americans to leave your children, and grandchildren, worse off then those who came before you.

Greenspan and the Bush Tax Cuts

Image from New York Times article cited below.

I was surprised to read the comments made by Dr. Alan Greenspan in Friday's New York Times regarding the recent debate in Washington over the Bush Tax Cuts:

“I’m in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money,” Mr. Greenspan, 84, said Friday in a telephone interview. “Our choices right now are not between good and better; they’re between bad and worse. The problem we now face is the most extraordinary financial crisis that I have ever seen or read about."

Now most would expect a libertarian to cry foul over the very idea of raising taxes. Wouldn't an increase in taxes on the wealthiest 10% contribute to greater economic slowdown? Doesn't that decrease the incentives of business owners to expand their operations? What about the laffer curve? Although it pains me to say it, I am right along with Dr. Greenspan. The very idea of borrowing more money to sustain the size of our government is proposterous. I have long been disgusted with the size of the Federal Government, it's reckless spending on entitlement programs and the billions of dollars poured into pork projects. But, the reality is that it is the wealthiest in society who are most involved in Government policy, through direct contributions to politicians, interest groups, and PAC's.

By allowing these Tax cuts to expire, we will not be hurting the businesses, but rather will be pushing the business owners to reinvest a higher percentage of their profits back into their businesses, so as to avoid paying those taxes. This additional investment will lead to expansion, inovation, and (gasp) job creation.

Additionally, this policy would encourage those most involved in the political process to reassess the means in which they pursue their self-interests. Is it better to allow the government to continue on its path of being captured by the private sector, and to spend it's way into a black hole of debt? Or, should we seriously reevaluate the role that government should play not only in business, but in the lives of the citizenry as a whole?

So, to those of you who may be affected by such a rise in taxes I pose this challenge. Why should the rest of us pay to subsidize this Leviathan, when you do nothing to prevent it from drowning us all? Lobby to scale back government spending, in all it's forms, or pay up.

Introduction

Welcome to The Contrarian Libertarian blog! I am a registered libertarian, and a student of Economics and Political Science at Towson University. I subscribe to the Austrian School of Economics, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Friedrich A. Hayek, and Murray N. Rothbard.

The primary purpose of this blog will be to analyze and critique philosophic, economic, and public policy arguments made by both mainstream and fringe groups, within the United States. Once a week I will post an article, along with my interpretations and opinions. Being a current undergraduate student, it is likely that some of my posts may appear to be nonsensical, or just plain common sense. But, the point here is to reassess and challenge beliefs to which many in our country feel have been settled. I believe that the unexamined life, is not worth living and that the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked.

I look forward to hearing your comments and feedback, as this endeavor unfolds.

-The Contrarian Libertarian