On the heels of last week’s news that the economy actually shrank in the first quarter of 2015, more and more people are beginning to understand the harm overregulation, wastefulness, and excessive taxation does to the economy. Too much government strangles liberty, economic growth and opportunity. Even some Democrats think we have too much government, writes Richard W. Rahn, senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
There are plenty of economists who understand the downside of too much government, but the problem is that it is hard to get people to listen because “most economists are boring.” Richard Rahn is among the fortunate to know well three students of Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek who are anything but boring.
Those of us who favor more liberty, more economic growth and more opportunity understand that these things require less government. We are fortunate that the intellectual students of Friedman and Friedrich Hayek continue to carry the ball in very practical ways. Three of the most influential are Ed Crane, Art Laffer and Grover Norquist. Art Laffer taught many Americans, including many politicians, that tax rates and tax revenues are two different things and tax rates that are too high bring in less revenue (the Laffer curve). Despite being a professor of economics, Mr. Laffer is able to communicate in a way that anyone can understand.
Ed Crane, through his creation of the Cato Institute and his many speeches, made the idea of being a libertarian both intellectually and politically respectable — and is in line with the thinking of most of the American Founders. Grover Norquist is the master of explaining the need for limited government and how to organize victory. Messrs. Laffer, Crane and Norquist are not only exceptionally smart and talented, but are also three of the funniest men alive. The endless good humor they exhibit goes far in making their message seem far less threatening to those who are afraid of loosening the binding apron strings of government.
Read more from Richard Rahn here.
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