Unconstitutional spending and government regulations.
Adhering to the constitution would end the federal government's stranglehold on the economy and free up the people's money for productive activities.
I sent the following letter to the Wall Street Journal. It has not been published as of this weekend’s edition and I don’t think it will be published. Unconstitutional spending is widespread and must be abolished.
Gov. DeSantis is spot on with his call to abolish the Department of Education ("It's Past Time to Abolish the U.S. Department of Education," op-ed March 19). Why stop there? Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution outlines the authorized spending of the federal government. If the federal government had a constitutional federal budget (CFB), the following cabinet departments would also be abolished: Energy, Commerce, Agriculture, Transportation, Labor, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security.
Phasing out these unnecessary cabinet departments would be consistent with the Tenth Amendment which states unequivocally, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." President Trump needs to make this case to the American people as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. We, the people, need to declare our independence from the federal government's overreach.
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In this weekend’s edition of the Journal, University of Tampa economics professor Patrick Newman points out why government regulation is not needed to protect consumers.
“Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” John Godfrey Saxe’s quip certainly applies to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, legislation meant to clean up Chicago’s meat-packing industry (“‘The Jungle’ Is a Cautionary Tale for DOGE” by Peggy Noonan, Declarations, March 15).
In reality, the Beef Trust improved sanitation in slaughterhouses. It replaced wooden cattle pens with brick structures, revamped sewage systems, minimized dust through electrical power and reduced waste in the Chicago River by making by-products from carcasses. Canned meat products and preservatives decreased spoilage, bacterial contamination and monotonous diets. The Beef Trust likewise reduced prices for ordinary Americans.
These innovations incurred the wrath of smaller butchers, cattle ranchers and reformers like Upton Sinclair. He was an avowed socialist who wanted to write a sensationalist book on wage slavery. The official report by the Bureau of Animal Industry noted that he engaged in “willful and deliberate misrepresentations of fact.” The law encouraged industry consolidation in the Beef Trust by, among other things, imposing new costly sanitary requirements on smaller competitors.
Contrary to popular history, the saga of the Beef Trust is a great example of how free-market capitalism improves the lives of ordinary Americans while government intervention makes things worse.
Prof. Patrick Newman
University of Tampa
Tampa, Fla.
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Joseph Cotto and I discuss the economy on his podcast.
Tom DiLorenzo’z pamphlet, Axis of Evil, is now available at the Mises Institute.
Order a free copy of Rothbard’s money and banking classic monograph. Or, you can read it online here.
My December 10 talk on medical care.
Bob Murphy interviews Dr. Keith Smith of the Surgery Center of OK.
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Murray Sabrin, PhD, is emeritus professor of finance, Ramapo College of New Jersey. Dr. Sabrin is considered a “public intellectual” for writing about the economy in scholarly and popular publications. His book, The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance (Business Expert Press, Oct. 24, 2022), and his other BEP publication, Navigating the Boom/Bust Cycle: An Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide (October 2021), provides decision makers with tools needed to help manage their businesses during the business cycle. Sabrin's autobiography, From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story, was published in November, 2022.