After 7 long years of Obamacare, and seeing exactly how its implementation has reeked havoc on 1/6th of the economy and turned the insurance business into the largest government “healthcare” program ever, we come to this interview with Jonathan Gruber, one of the master minds behind the program. Watch in amazement the convolution and the idiocy of his defense of the success of Obamacare.
Category: Regulation
Economics: Killing the American Dream
There has been a swell of anti-capitalist sentiment in the last decade. That sentiment is reflected in how our government views business based on laws passed and regulations created. At times, our government treats businesses as if they were just an extension of government benefit programs or tools to push current ideological agendas. We forget that the primary purpose of a business is to derive a profit from the supply of goods and services. “Job creation” is not a primary purpose of business, it is a side affect of a successful business. “Wage growth” is not a primary function of business, it is a side affect of healthy competition for labor resources among thriving businesses.
We don’t have to look much farther than our own federal, state, and local governments to understand the economic impacts on businesses (and by extension the economy as a whole) of taxation, over regulation and government mandates. Here’s a brief video from Prager University that succinctly demonstrates how things like Obamacare and minimum wage increases squelch entrepreneurship and kill businesses rather than promote business creation and expand economic opportunity.
Economics: Ford, Mexico and Government Regulations
I recommend reading Marita Noon’s article at TownHall titled: Blame for Ford’s Mexico Move Falls On Obama Administration. In one brief read you’ll begin to understand the impact government over-regulation has on businesses and job creation/retention in our country.
If you don’t have time to read the article, the Obama administration, in their quest to save the world, have implemented aggressive CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) rules for automakers in the US. In order to meet these standards, auto manufacturers must build small, highly fuel efficient vehicles so that they meet the CAFE standard. However, several factors make these car models very low margin. So, in order to save money and increase margins, like any good business out to turn a profit, they look for cost cutting measures like moving production to low wage countries.
Folks, to say things like “Mexico is taking our jobs!” is short sighted. We need to ask, “Why are corporations taking their manufacturing elsewhere?” It’s not as simple as wages are lower someplace else, or “Mexico bad”. We have an incredibly burdensome regulatory state, powered by an ever increasing federal (and state) government bureaucratic class. From CAFE standards to licensing for hair braiders it all has an measurable effect on the economy. When our President and Congress address these issues, then some of these jobs will stay in America. But don’t hold your breath.