Recently, a controversy raged in the blogosphere about whether neo-liberalism has been a bane or a boon for the world economy. The argument is rather coarse, in that it fails to distinguish between the various elements of neo-liberalism, or moderate deregulation vs. extreme deregulation. But if we take the argument at face value, one of the major claims of neoliberals is that countries in the world which are more neoliberal are more successful (because they are more neoliberal). I disagree.
My disagreement is not with the raw correlation between the Heritage Index and Per Capita GDP. A number is a number. My disagreement is with the composition of the index itself, and interpreting this correlation as causation between neo-liberalism and 'good things.'
My primary contention below is that many of these measures used in the composite Heritage Index have nothing to do with less government, and a lot more to do with good government. It is these measures of good government that correlate to economic growth and drive the overall correlation between the "Freedom Index" and positive outcomes. Secondarily, I will argue that many of the other items in the index (like investment freedom) are not causes of growth, but rather outcomes of growth.
At the same time as there is no corroboration, this come into view to be the end. all through the post- brawl meeting with critic Gus Johnson at Strikeforce:
It should be obvious to anyone that printing two trillion new dollars and handing it to the corrupt financial sector to play with will not result in higher wages for ordinary people. This ought to be an issue for the left/progressives, but thanks to Barack Obama's ownership of the program, it's now turning into a campaign issue for Republicans. Most notably, Texa-creep Rick Perry came out recently with a uniquely thuggish criticism of QE, essentially threatening Bernanke with a Texan mob if he does what everyone expects him to do and enacts a third QE program:
Plato and Aristotle are our oldest political thinkers. Surprisingly, the same debates that guided Plato and Aristotle's work remain with us today. What is the good life? What is justice? What is the best regime?
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Despite massive death and destruction, the Republicans are comparing the technical rollout of ObamaCare to the one of the gravest human disasters in the history of the country. I say the comparison is a bridge way too far.
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Is waterboarding ever ethically or morally admissible? St. Augustine Just War and ticking-time bomb theory vs. violating American values, religious principles and the moral imperative.