Power of the Press
22 June 2006
Editor, The Christian Science Monitor
Dear Editor:
State governments indeed are more fiscally responsible than is Uncle Sam ("States tend their piggy banks better," June 22). The most significant reason is that only Uncle Sam has a printing press. In the U.S., only he can pay his bills by literally making more money. Consequently, creditors face less risk of default by lending to the U.S. government than they face by lending, say, to the State of Kansas or to General Motors.
Combined with their native profligacy, their access to the printing press means that Congress and the President will seldom resist the easy option of deficit spending - a fact as certain as it is lamentable.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Christian Science Monitor
Dear Editor:
State governments indeed are more fiscally responsible than is Uncle Sam ("States tend their piggy banks better," June 22). The most significant reason is that only Uncle Sam has a printing press. In the U.S., only he can pay his bills by literally making more money. Consequently, creditors face less risk of default by lending to the U.S. government than they face by lending, say, to the State of Kansas or to General Motors.
Combined with their native profligacy, their access to the printing press means that Congress and the President will seldom resist the easy option of deficit spending - a fact as certain as it is lamentable.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Monday April 2, 2007 at 5:44pm