Greatness Rooted in Liberty
18 June 2006
The Editor, The Economist
25 St James's Street
London SW1A 1HG
United Kingdom
SIR:
You say that America's "collective dream" is one "of economic opportunity and upward mobility" ("Inequality and the American Dream," June 17). While Americans generally cherish opportunity and mobility, these are not our collective dream, or at least not the one that forged this nation. Instead, they are its consequences. America's greatness is rooted in liberty. It was liberty - not economic opportunity, upward mobility, or a low Gini coefficient - that America's founders identified as an unalienable right so vital that life without it is not worth living.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Some Decline
17 June 2006
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Floyd Norris interprets the U.S. trade deficit as evidence of "the declining trade performance of the United States" ("Without Being in the Room, a Far East Behemoth Will Be a Player," June 17). Does foreign direct investment here of nearly $100 billion, in 2004, evince economic decline? How about foreigners' continuing attraction to dollar-denominated equity shares and bonds? Whenever foreigners invest in dollar-denominated assets they reveal confidence in the American economy - and they strengthen it by bringing capital to our shores.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Inflation Is Always and Everywhere a Monetary Phenomenon
16 June 2006
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Paul Krugman relies on the discredited "cost-push" theory to explain inflation ("The Phantom Menace," June 16). As Milton Friedman and others have shown, inflation is caused by excessive growth in the money supply, not by rising prices or "embedded" pressures. Krugman himself can't escape this truth: he admits that the 1970s' inflation was tamed only when the Fed cut money-supply growth.
If inflation is rising today - if wages and prices are "leapfrogging" - it's because the money supply is growing too rapidly. And the only way to halt inflation is for the Fed to disregard Krugman's advice and further reduce its rate of pumping dollars into the economy.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Can It Happen Here?
15 June 2006
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
James Bourne of the Bronx asks today "Wouldn't it be wonderful if American political campaigns held themselves to the standards of honesty and decency imposed in Mexico by the Federal Election Institute?" (Letters, June 15). Note the word: imposed. Mr. Bourne comes awfully close to applauding a government agency imposing on political candidates (and, hence, on voters) its own standards of honesty and decency.
What's happening to Americans' healthy skepticism of government power - and to their love of freedom and respect for First Amendment principles?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
No More New Deals (One Was Too Many)
14 June 2006
Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
E. J. Dionne longs for a new New Deal, believing that the original one saved capitalism and secured prosperity ("In Search Of a New New Deal," June 13). Although widely believed, this myth is belied by the evidence. In a book* released last week by Oxford University Press, economic historian Robert Higgs presents data showing that New Deal policies worsened America's investment climate, both deepening and prolonging the Great Depression. Not until after WWII - when Congressional elections signaled Americans' rejection of the socialist policies that many level-headed people in the 1930s feared would curse us far in to our future - did Americans again enjoy widespread prosperity.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
* Robert Higgs, Depression, War, and Cold War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
Yet Another Overrated Politician
12 June 2006
Editor, The Washington Times
Dear Editor:
H. Alan Young wants a memorial in Washington to honor Harry Truman (Letters, June 12). Authorizing the dropping of two atomic bombs that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians is reason enough not to honor Truman with a monument, but too many of Truman's other lesser deeds are unworthy as well - such as his seizure of American steel factories during the Korean War and his effort to extend FDR's New Deal by creating a system of national health insurance.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Facts and Artifacts
9 June 2006
News Editor, WTOP Radio
To the Editor:
With her report billed by anchorman Frank Herzog as showing that "marijuana is more dangerous" than teens think, Kate Ryan recounts the recent deadly violence surrounding marijuana sales.
The risk of violence during drug deals is not a danger of drugs; it is a danger of drug prohibition. It makes no more sense to say that marijuana today is dangerous because of the violence that sometimes accompanies its exchange than it does to say that whiskey in the 1920s was dangerous because of the violence that sometimes accompanied its exchange.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
