I agree On Nov 12, 2016 7:33 AM, "MJ" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > *7 Things Trump Must Do *[*Originally published July 17, 2016. This > letter was published during the campaign by Joseph Salerno, Mark Thornton > and 25 other economists.*] > > > *An Open Letter to Donald Trump *We the undersigned urge you, the > presumptive Republican nominee for President, to support a rebirth of > free-market capitalism in the U.S. You have said repeatedly that you want > to make America great again. We agree with you. And we assert that the most > effective way to start that process would be to affirm your principled > support for economic liberty, for open and competitive markets, and for a > foreign policy that rejects both protectionism at home and interventionism > abroad. > > Over the last two decades especially, the U.S. economy has been saddled > increasingly with burdensome government rules and regulations that stifle > innovation and retard economic growth. Some of the more obvious examples > are the massive command and control system put in place under the > Affordable Care Act (ACA); the enactment of purposely mislabeled “free > trade” agreements (such as NAFTA) that actually have harmed some U.S. > businesses and destroyed jobs while subsidizing other politically connected > firms; the failed so-called “War on Drugs” which wastes private and public > resources and contributes to rising violent crime rates; and the expansion > of inefficient and rights-violating environmental regulations that have > hampered productivity and increased the overall cost of doing business; > and, finally, the pursuit by the Federal Reserve of a pernicious > decade-long low-interest rate monetary policy which has (again) created a > massive speculative bubble in housing and on Wall Street … that is sure to > end badly. > > As a successful businessman, you must understand that these harmful > economic policies of the past must be changed by the next president and > Congress if the U.S. is to continue to remain efficient and prosperous. And > you also must understand that the key to any economic rebirth in the U.S. > is *not *old-fashioned Keynesian deficit spending, quantitative easing by > the Fed, or the enactment of higher minimum wage laws. The key to any > sustained economic recovery is the legal protection of private property > rights and the adoption of free markets where entrepreneurs, alert to price > and profit signals, guide scarce resources into their most productive use. > Below we suggest a concise list of first-order public policy changes that > could set the early agenda for your new administration: > > *First, the Affordable Care Act should be repealed in its entirety* and, > as you have already pointed out, any prohibition on interstate competition > in health insurance also should be repealed. Health care and health care > insurance should be left to the market. > > *Second, all recent thousand-page international trade agreements should be > replaced* with a single, clearly worded *paragraph* that allows any U.S. > business (or consumer) to trade with any other business (or consumer) > anywhere else in the world on terms that are mutually satisfactory. Period. > > *Third, you or the Congress should immediately remove cannabis (marijuana) > from its current Schedule One prohibition status under Federal law*; > cannabis and drug policy generally should be left entirely to the states. > (Ideally the entire Drug War should be scrapped and the production and > consumption by adults of any “drug” should be legalized.) > > *Fourth, the federal minimum wage should either be permanently fixed at > its current rate or reduced; legally minimum wages should be left entirely > to the states*. (Ideally, all minimum wage laws should be repealed since > they cause job destruction.) > > *Fifth, the U.S. corporate tax rate should be reduced* so that it is the > lowest (not the highest) in the industrial world; ideally, it should be > repealed entirely because it constitutes double taxation on shareholders of > corporations who also pay income tax on their dividends. > > *Sixth, the Federal Reserve should be required by law to end all forms of > quantitative easing and interest rate regulation* now accomplished > primarily through open market operations; interest rates for savers and > investors should be market determined. In addition, the Federal Reserve’s > budget should be determined by Congressional appropriations like that of > any other federal department or agency. > > And finally, as a long-run solution for our recurring financial problems > and economic recessions, replacing the current inflationary paper dollar > with alternative monetary arrangements that provide for a sound, > market-based commodity money, such as *the gold standard, should be > seriously considered*. > > There will be Democratic as well as (some) Republican opposition to these > changes. Count on it. But your job will be to hold fast to basic principles > and persuade the opposition that long lines at airport security and rising > health care costs are based on economic ideas that are totally misguided. > Socialism and progressivism and crony capitalism have failed miserably. > > We need common sense capitalism and you now have a clear mandate to > initiate its rebirth. > > > *Sincerely, *Joseph T. Salerno, Pace University > Mark Thornton, Auburn University > Henry Thompson, Auburn University > Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University > Dominick T. Armentano, University of Hartford > Christopher Westley, Florida Gulf Coast University > Murray Sabrin, Ramapo College of New Jersey > Thomas Tacker, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University > Peter M. Kerr, Southeast Missouri State University > Thomas DiLorenzo, Loyola University Maryland > Marshall DeRosa, Florida Atlantic University > Walter Block, Loyola University New Orleans > Robert Batemarco, Fordham University > Samuel Bostaph, University of Dallas > Paul A. Cleveland, Birmingham-Southern College > Peter G. Klein, Baylor University > Thomas L. Wenck, Michigan State University > John B. Egger, Towson University > Douglas Butler, Texas Christian University > William N. Butos, Trinity College > Paul Prentice, Colorado Technical University > Butler Shaffer, Southwestern University Law School > Judd Patton, Bellevue University > Paul Gottfried, Elizabethtown College > Jim Cox, Georgia Perimeter College > Roger Clites, Tusculum College > Bruce Koerber, Divine Economy Consulting > > https://mises.org/blog/7-things-trump-must-do > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
