Sorry, More Boring Stuff...

I'm just now getting back from the beach, where I didn't have internet access for over a week. So there's a lot to catch up on.

First, let's go ahead and get all of the "Live 8" malarchy out of the way. I tuned in and watched some of the performances last weekend, and I must say, great music and good intentions, but this is the most misguided effort ever. These left-wingers are still convinced, after decades of failed attempts, that somehow prosperity can be achieved through redistributive means.

Here's two great articles, here and here, on how foreign aid is pointless and usually hurts those it intends to help. I'll bet anyone that Africa will still be in poverty 50 years from now. I also bet there will be at least 50 more Live Aids that will try, and fail, to "end poverty". All of these organizers are so intent on finding out just what causes poverty, but the real question they should be asking themselves is what causes prosperity. Poverty has long been the norm. It's very easy to create poverty. Just do nothing.

The entire world lived in extreme poverty by today's standards until, about 300 years ago, the West began to prosper. How did this happen? Why do Americans enjoy the world's highest living standards? What is preventing Africans from creating wealth? If people like Dave Matthews and Bono really understood the answer to these questions, they wouldn't be giving a dime to Africa.

Foreign aid sustains poverty. Simple as that.

Second, Ireland. Came across a great post over at Cafe Hayek (a libertarian economics blog) that talks more about the Irish economic miracle. Interesting stuff. Lots of prosperity being created there, all without foreign aid.

Third, the U.S. employment rate dropped to 5% last month. This is the lowest rate since 9/11. I'm not saying Bush had anything directly to do with this, as presidents have no control over the business cycle (John Kerry reminded me of Josef Stalin last year when he promised that HE HIMSELF would somehow "create" 9 million jobs under a grand "jobs creation plan" if elected), but you have to give some credit to the 2003 tax rate reductions for creating a better climate for growth.

There's a great article in today's Wall Street Journal concerning this. Here's a sample:

Almost from the very day in May of 2003 when those tax reductions became law, the U.S. has experienced a robust expansion driven by investment and productivity gains, not by consumer spending...Consumers aren't irrelevant, but prosperity is created on the supply side of the economy with the incentives to produce goods or services that people want to consume. So tax cuts in marginal rates that boost incentives to work and invest provide a much bigger bang for the buck.

The private sector, not the government, drives economic growth. Even Clinton understood this to some degree. Why can't the rest of his party?

That's enough for today kids. Tomorrow I'll cover gas prices. Stay tuned.