Friday, May 14, 2010

In Which I'm Accused of Being a Keynesian Maoist (!?!)

. Friday, May 14, 2010

Probably the best comment I've ever gotten, from this post which was syndicated at Seeking Alpha. Reproduced in full, because it's too great to excerpt:

You've got to hand it to the shills of the Nursing State. They keep plugging away at their narrative regardless of reality. It takes your breath away, but in a strange way, I have admiration for them, if only for their sticktuitiveness.

The latest morality play unfolding begins by promoting the narrative that Americans are undertaxed and have a long way to go until they reach Eurosocialist standards. Maybe so. We've been hearing for a long time that our gasoline is way too cheap at $2.50 a gallon when by Euro standards it should be $5.00-$10.00 a gallon. Of course, by Euro standards our unemployment should be 15%, so we still have some room for improvement.

Of course our taxes are too low on a per-capita basis. Half the adults in the nation don't pay any federal income taxes at all. A tenth of the nation is on food stamps. But the people that do pay taxes and buy their own lunch are taxed to the gills. Are the We are all Keynesians Now people really promoting higher taxes during a severe recession as the latest iteration of their hero's ideas? Can't we go back to Mao's Red Book to see if that can't be plumbed for a few hidden gems?

Before raising taxes and increasing regulation as the way out of our malaise, can't we try a few more spending cuts? Have we really exhausted the ways in which we can trim back Leviathan? I'd start by ending all subsidies to the students of North Carolina University. They're clever people and on the top of the economic food chain. They should be able to fend for themselves without, Robin Hood style, holding up other people to pay for their classes in Keynesianism 101.

Of all the lunacy and murder that came out of the Mao days, and I hesitate to write this, but I admit to a secret pleasure seeing the college students and professors herded into the fields to feed pigs and chickens. I'd wish it had been otherwise, but if you're going to promote that beast, don't be surprised if the beast you think you're directing turns around to bite you (or worse).

Mr. Kindred Winecoff. Keep shilling for the Nursing State and one day you'll get your wish to leave academia.


Well done, Tony Petroski. A slight quibble: my wish is to someday join academia, which is a prerequisite to leaving it. Here's hoping it doesn't lead to a career of pig-feeding!

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In Which I'm Accused of Being a Keynesian Maoist (!?!)
 

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