Yes, There Is Disagreement

Yes, There is Disagreement

Before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama declared, “There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy.” Vice President Joe Biden added recently, “Every economist, as I’ve said, from conservative to liberal, acknowledges that direct government spending on a direct program now is the best way to infuse economic growth and create jobs.”

Despite the administration’s efforts to stamp out opposition, however, the Cato Institute compiled an impressive list of economists who disagree with the DC strategy of Keynesian spending to help the economy. Click here for a PDF.

More Opposition

• 10 Reasons to Oppose a Stimulus Package for the States (PDF) (Chris Edwards, M.A. Economics)
• $646,214 Per Government Job (Alan Reynolds, A.B. Economics)
• An 8.3% Deficit Is Plenty of Stimulus (Philip I. Levy, Ph.D. Economics)
• ‘Atlas Shrugged’: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years (Stephen Moore, M.A. Economics)
• Bailouts and Stimulus Plans (Eugene F. Fama, Ph.D. Professor of Finance)
• Barack Obama’s Keynesian Mistake (Ike Brannon, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• Can Fiscal Stimulus Revive the US Economy? (Frank Shostak, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• Does “Depression Economics” Change the Rules? (Robert P. Murphy, Ph.D. Economics)
• Don’t Jump the Gun on Stimulus Plans (Russell Roberts, Ph.D. Professor of Economics)
• Econ 101: That Old-Time Keynesian Theory (Gary Wolfram, Ph.D. Professor of Economics)
• Economic Stimulus and Other Outdated Quackery (Jon Sanders, M.A. Economics)
• ‘Economy like an airplane. It needs to refuel’ (Craig R. Smith, CEO of Swiss America Trading Corporation)
• Faith-Based Economics (Alan Reynolds, A.B. Economics)
• Fallacy: Government Spending and Deficits Stimulate the Economy (Milton Friedman, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• False Hopes for Tax Relief and Fiscal Stimulus (D.W. MacKenzie, Ph.D. Economics)
• From John Law to John Maynard Keynes (Steve H. Hanke, Ph.D. Professor of Applied Economics)
• Government Spending Is No Free Lunch (Robert J. Barro, Ph.D. Professor of Economics)
• Government Spending Makes Recessions Worse (Dominick T. Armentano, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• Government Stimulus Means Growing Federal Debt Burdens to Come (Richard M. Ebeling, Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• Learning from Japan: Infrastructure Spending Won’t Boost the Economy (Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D. Economics)
• Let’s Stimulate Private Risk Taking (Alberto Alesina, Ph.D. Professor of Economics)
• Paving Projects Won’t Boost Economy (William F. Shughart II, Ph.D. Professor of Economics)
• Stimulus Plans Don’t Work (Alan Schram, Managing Partner of Wellcap Partners)
• Stimulate the economy, not government (Mitt Romney, MBA)
• The Economic “Stimulus” (Thomas Sowell, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• The Fiscal Stimulus: What Will Work? (Bruce Bartlett, Former Treasury Department Economist)
• The Latest Reported Bankruptcy: Mainstream Economics (Robert Higgs, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• The Obama Stimulus Plan Won’t Work (Dominick T. Armentano, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• The Optimum Government (Richard W. Rahn, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• The Troubling Return of Keynesianism (PDF) (Ike Brannon, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• The World Won’t Buy Unlimited U.S. Debt (Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital)
• There’s No Pain-Free Cure for Recession (Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital)
• We Can’t Spend Our Way out of This Quagmire (Lawrence H. White, Ph.D. Professor of Economic History)
• What Do the New Deal and World War II Tell Us About the Prospects for a Stimulus Package? (Price V. Fishback, Ph.D. Professor of Economics)
• What Is Economic Stimulus? (Richard W. Rahn, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
• Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth (Brian M. Riedl, B.A. Economics)