Some simple solutions are really complex problems in disguise.
This weekend, at Townhall.com, your Common Sense columnist expands on a very popular meme, covered earlier: that the federal debt is no problem because the government, after all, can just print more money.
Amazing. It’s like we, wow, never thought of that!
Not.
Click on over to Townhall, then back here. You know, to add your two cents (yes, comments really are appreciated). Or to click through to a few of the additional links, below. Just scroll down to Saturday’s presented video to watch (in case you’d missed it) the sheer bravado of simple-minded inflationism and insider hubris (that is, the video in question). There are a few links in the column, but here please find some more interesting reading related to the subject:
- Interested in the tradition of public finance that is critical of deficit spending? Well, it’s a long history. You could start here: “Destutt de Tracy: A French Precursor of the Virginia School of Public Finance,” by Robert W. Dimand and Edwin G. West.
- Just noticed that the above-mentioned essay is not where it used to be online. It must be cached away somewhere, but in case you don’t find it for free, try reading Destutt de Tracy’s treatise — as translated into English under the supervision of Thomas Jefferson, no less. Timothy D. Terrell’s introduction is terrific.
- Wondering about the distinction between inflation and inflationism? Try Ludwig von Mises’ Human Action, the chapter on “The Inflationist View of History.”
- Wondering where to start with all the competing ideas in economics, about today’s economic trends, and much more? Try listening to Russ Roberts work at EconTalk. Great conversations with experts as interviewed by a conscientious educator.