Houston Area Liberty Campaign

Mises Daily: Friday, June 18, 2010 by Aaron Smith

In our society of victims, entrepreneurs are blamed for many of the hardships that ail our economy. Whether it is because of high prices, low wages, or substandard economic conditions, they are often accused of exploitation in their quest for profits.

The real victims in our economy, however, are usually not workers who voluntarily enter contracts to sell their labor nor consumers who voluntarily purchase products and services but instead entrepreneurs who are involuntarily subjected to the not-so-invisible hand of our government caretakers. Somehow, it seems completely reasonable to overtly exploit entrepreneurs for their resources in the name of preventing the potential exploitation of anyone else.

Price floors and price ceilings are two sides of the same coin; both of them are economically irrational and morally unjust.

Legislators often garner popular support for measures that exploit entrepreneurs by citing ostensibly alarming data: Exxon Mobile made $45.2 billion in profits in 2008 when gas prices eclipsed $4.00; they’re price gouging! The average compensation of Fortune 500 companies in 2009 was $9.25 million, yet they’re paying unskilled workers only $7.25; the minimum wage is too low!

While drawing such illogical conclusions wouldn’t score a teenager any critical-reading points on the SAT, it does help legislators get bills passed in Congress.

A recent victim of the government’s crusade against entrepreneurs is American Samoa, where in 2007 Congress dictated a 61% increase in its minimum wage as part of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, despite forceful pleas to the contrary from the island of 65,000. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, StarKist, one of Samoa’s largest employers, will reduce its Samoan workforce 60% by 2011, which they directly attribute to the new wage floor. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones scaling back in Samoa; Chicken of the Sea closed its operations last September, forcing over 2,000 additional Samoans into unemployment. Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting reading.  Be informed before you vote in the current primaries and in the general elections coming this November 2010…your new taxes… 
 
You better change the current leadership in Congress or find a way to hide your money, because they are coming to take it from you in 2011…
 
This is astounding.  Many have no clue about the changes coming our way in 2011 and beyond under the current US Congressional leadership (super majority of tax and spenders extraordinaire). The new tax impact on the average taxpayer as outlined below is hard to imagine. Not to mention the shock wave that will ripple through every part of the economy.  Just adding health care benefits as part of income on the W-2 of every employee in the USA will add $150.00 a month to the average couple’s tax debt. Who has that budgeted for 2011? The Arizona Immigration Law federal lawsuit, DOJ/Black Panther story, Lindsay Lohan trial story, etc, etc in the nightly media are just distractions to keep everyone’s attention off real impacting issues like this one.  Read this and weep about how much money you are going to lose five months from now; when the tax laws change in January 2011…
 
Subject: 2011 Tax Increases
 
In just five months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:
 
If you want to see the entire list of increased taxes for average citizens; you can download this complete PDF Version at the following link:  http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sY8waPq1
 
First Wave of Taxes in 2011:  Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
 
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.
Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Peter Schiff

While all the talk at present is about economic corners turned and markets charging ahead, no one is paying much notice to an American economy deteriorating before our eyes. These myopic commentators seem to be simply moving past the now almost-universally held conclusion that before the crash of 2008, our economy was on an unsustainable course. If these imbalances had been corrected, then perhaps I too would be joining in the euphoria. But evidence abounds that we have not veered at all from that dangerous path.

The primary factor that enables our government to peddle economic snake oil is the dollar’s unique role as the world’s reserve currency, and our creditors’ willingness to preserve its status.

Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that consumer spending as a percentage of U.S. GDP has risen to 71%, a post-World War II record. This level is notably higher than other wealthy industrialized countries, and vastly higher than the levels sustained by China and other emerging economies. At the same time, our industrial output is contracting, our trade deficit is expanding once again (after contracting earlier in the year), and our savings rate is plummeting (after an early year surge).

The data confirms that government stimuli are worsening the structural imbalances underlying our economy. The recent ‘rebound’ in GDP is not resulting from increased economic output, but merely from the fact that we are borrowing more than ever. That is precisely how we got ourselves into this mess. An economy cannot grow indefinitely by borrowing more than it produces. Not only is such a course untenable, but the added debt ensures a deeper recession when the bills come due.

This soon-to-be-called depression will not end until the pendulum of consumer spending habits swings violently in the other direction. This will be a jarring change, but it is the splash of cold water that we need to return our economy to viability. I believe that consumer spending as a share of GDP will need to temporarily contract to roughly 50% of GDP, before eventually moving toward its historic mean of 65%. Such a move would indicate a restoration of our personal savings, a decline in borrowing and trade deficits, and an increased industrial output. That would be a real recovery. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is Rep. Ron Paul’s speech (R-TX) to Congress that he used to introduce H.R. 1207 on February 26, 2009.

A full hearing by the Committee on Financial Services was held today (9/25/09) at 9:00 a.m. in Washington D.C. for H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.

Here is the audio of that hearing, with timelapse still photos.

Many volumes have been written about the Great Depression of 1929-1941 and its impact on the lives of millions of Americans. Historians, economists and politicians have all combed the wreckage searching for the “black box” that will reveal the cause of the calamity. Sadly, all too many of them decide to abandon their search, finding it easier perhaps to circulate a host of false and harmful conclusions about the events of seven decades ago. Consequently, many people today continue to accept critiques of free-market capitalism that are unjustified and support government policies that are economically destructive.

You can view the entire pamphlet or purchase pre-printed glossy, color copies of it from FEE.

Got an excellent educational opportunity forwarded from HALC member Barry Klein. If you’re economics-oriented, please check it out.

Robert Murphy, Austrian Economist with a Ph.D. from NYU and frequent contributor to the Ludwig von Mises Institute

On Friday, May 8 12:00pm, the HPRA speaker will be hosting Robert Murphy, A Ph.D. economist associated with the Mises Institute.