40. Government=Last Resort: Freedom & Entrepreneurialism Come First
In this newsletter, I discuss the perceived threat of COVID-19 and the delta variant, the economic and fiscal situations in Texas and D.C., and much more to let people prosper.
Hello Friend,
I hope you are living your best life this week! I’d imagine that if we were chatting we would be discussing the latest economic situation, what’s up with this crazy novel coronavirus, and good tasting wines. Thank you for reading and sharing this newsletter because as you know: Free-market capitalism best lets people prosper! I’ll keep cutting through the noise in the media and by politicians to search for ways to achieve more human flourishing, so please subscribe now. I’m almost to 400 subscribers so I’m looking forward to reaching 1,000 very soon. Will you help me?
Personal take: The Ginn’s have been doing very well. The boys are keeping us on our toes and Emily is doing well in the early stages of her pregnancy (YES!). We’ve got a long road ahead of us, but we are very blessed. I’ll be 40 later this year so I’m a bit nervous about being a dad again, especially with this one being a girl (two boys already), but I know I’ll be mostly ready by the time she is here next year. Your continued prayer will be most appreciated.
Hot take: I’m concerned that authoritarianism is returning because some in government positions think they know better than you. Unfortunately, we’ve already tried that route with the first two waves of COVID-19 and with those mandates and shutdowns doing much more harm than good, and we will learn more about the costs of those destructive actions for years to come. But maybe it was worth it initially because we didn’t quite know what to expect. Maybe. However, I think we could have turned to freedom and entrepreneurialism to solve the problem rather than shutting them down and asking governments with a massive knowledge problem without prices to direct activity to their most highly valued uses to render aid in our time of need. This isn’t to chastise those politicians who made those decisions but rather to help us learn from our mistakes moving forward. There is a sense of more government control in the air as COVID-19 cases rise from what looks to be mostly the delta variant, however, we should have calm as the case-fatality rate looks to be much lower in this third wave indicating that we are dealing with it better. Sure, we would all love for the case fatality rate (CFR) to be zero, but as with the seasonal flu, and the delta variant is much different, a CFR of zero is unlikely any time soon. So, let’s resort to freedom when all else seems to not be working. In fact, I propose that our first resort is always freedom while government action is the very last resort once we’ve entertained all options. Unfortunately, government action has too often become the first resort and we’ve dealt with the consequences regarding COVID-19, massive federal spending and debt, housing bubble, stock market bubble, permanent inflation, and many other problems currently facing our country.
Let’s get to the economic and fiscal situations in Texas and D.C.
TEXAS ECONOMIC AND FISCAL SITUATION
Many of the Texas House Democrats are still out of town so there is no quorum. Here’s what Texans are missing out on.
Sorry, Texans, you're missing out on property tax relief because some #txlege members aren't at work. If they were, you could receive property tax relief already passed by the Senate and hopefully much more to lower property tax bills. #txlege #HB122 texaspolicy.com/lower-taxes-be…Today the Texas Senate PASSED agenda items for the second special session: ➡️ Benefits for retired teachers ➡️ Bail reform ➡️ Property tax relief ➡️ Primary elections House Dems must get back to work & pass these & other items that Texans demand & deserve. #txlege
Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX
Here’s my recent piece with ATR’s Patrick Gleason on how multiple states are passing conservative budgets based on the work we’ve been doing at TPPF. Ready to get your state on board? Contact me.
While the new spending plans approved in #Texas and #Tennessee are among the most prominent examples of successful conservative budgeting this year, they are not the only instances. More: tennessean.com/story/opinion/… @Tennessean @patrickmgleason @taxreformer @TPPF #ncpol #txlege
U.S. ECONOMIC AND FISCAL SITUATION
Here is another episode of me discussing the benefits of capitalism and costs of socialism starting at time 49 minutes. I’m hoping to do this more, so please have me on your show.
Don't miss my conversation with @JackiDailyHost on the costs of #socialism and benefits of #capitalism. stitcher.com/show/jacki-dai… #Stitcher @JackiDailyShow #txlege #congress @TPPF
The nonsensical activity in D.C. that is spending us into insolvency, if we’re not already there, must end.
Bad bill for Americans in many ways. Just say no. More: thecannononline.com/reject-democra… @WSJ @TPPF https://t.co/k7UBGaMSr6Senate Democrats released an outline of the $3.5 trillion antipoverty and climate plan they hope to approve this fall. The plan is set to offer universal prekindergarten and expand Medicare to cover hearing, dental and vision care. https://t.co/ipYBQ0cTv3
The Wall Street Journal @WSJ
Thomas Sowell gets it:
Politicians are rational people who compare marginal costs and benefits, which includes getting re-elected. #PublicChoice https://t.co/sMMQnOvfroPoliticians have learned to call their spending of the taxpayers' money "investment," even when it is just pouring money down a bottomless pit, in order to win votes from the recipients.
Thomas Sowell @ThomasSowell
But many big-spending politicians don’t.
🤣🤣🤣 “right for America.” 😭😭😭 This “infrastructure” bill is wrong for America. @MittRomney @robportman Please read: thecannononline.com/reject-democra… @SenateGOP #CongressSen. Mitt Romney: "It's a win for Republicans and it's a win for Biden, it's a win for Democrats, it's a win for the Senate to say we can work together, that we've been able to overcome partisan differences to do something that's right for America." https://t.co/Gm2RMbjf4j
The Hill @thehillHere’s a thought on the Olympic gold medals….
Good piece by my colleague E.J. Antoni:
Strong Jobs Report Undermined by Inflation thecannononline.com/strong-jobs-re… @TPPF #jobsreport #txlege #congress @Comm4Prosperity @FreedomWorks #inflation
- Tradeoffs matter. Incentives matter. People are rational. If you pay people to stay home, they will. If you don’t, they will return to work. Thank you for attending my economics lesson. #congress #txlege @TPPF #EconTwitter https://t.co/JNRkoOpbZ0https://t.co/BdN8VH5Xeb
Daniel Clifton @DanCliftonStrat Just as I was preparing to start paying my student loans again, the Biden administration extended the pause in payments. Of course, I could make payments, and maybe I should, but regardless this sort of ridiculous government action should stop as we need to return to normal. The direct, indirect, and opportunity costs are too high for borrowers, taxpayers, and families.
WHAT’S UP WITH COVID-19 IN TEXAS AND BEYOND
Here is a summary of the latest in the COVID-19 situation in Texas. More on TX DSHS Covid-related data here. Data on demographics at the U.S. level. Research on the ineffectiveness of lockdowns in slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Actually, if children are at risk, they need their parents to protect them. But progressives don’t understand or believe this because they want to block parents’ choices about their kids when it comes to masks, schooling, etc. That’s counter to liberty & eerily authoritarian. https://t.co/A1USRUp8rXOur children are at risk and they need us to protect them. Follow the science, doctors, data, CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics. Allow local control to mask and protect our kids. https://t.co/HPs3ZseEtG
Mayor Adler | Get vaccinated! @MayorAdlerAnother piece noting how we will always have coronaviruses, we need to start better understanding risk and drop the ridiculous lockdowns and mask mandates to better align the risk with the policies while understanding the direct and indirect costs of those policies.
Given the evidence of the situation and questionable results of mandates and restrictions by governments at every level, Gov. Greg Abbott thankfully lifted the state restrictions on March 10, 2021, and local restrictions on May 21, 2021. This 3rd wave is much different than the first two. The case count is similar to Wave 1, but the CFR (case fatality rate) is 1/8 of what it was in Wave 1. And with half as many new cases per day so far, the CFR is 1/6 of Wave 2. It appears that though the delta variant may be more contagious, but it is not nearly as deadly from either a less severe variant, vaccinations and recoveries that provide antibodies are helping, or some other answer.
8/8/21 #Texas #COVID19 7-day: New cases up & fatalities up slightly CV-19 hospitalizations/hospital beds=15% (#Austin=14.6%) Available hosp beds=20% (#Austin=15.4%) CFR 0.3% in Wave #3 vs 2.5% in #1 & 1.8% in #2 @TPPF @therealarod1984 @MattMackowiak @MattRinaldiTX #txlege
NEW: 8/2/2021 #Texas #COVID19 7-day trend: New cases up & New fatalities up slightly COVID-19 hospitalizations/hospital capacity=11.5% (#Austin=10.6%) Available hospital capacity=22.0% (#Austin=15.9%) @TPPF @mkelly007 @MattRinaldiTX @MattMackowiak https://t.co/eVBxX5N3Zx https://t.co/g1s43KBQGj https://t.co/6fb0wYVtPu
Vance Ginn @VanceGinn
Closing Thoughts
Economist Friedrich Hayek knew there would be problems if politicians didn’t let a crisis go to waste. They should let more of those opportunities pass them by:
My prayers this week are focused on the following verse:
Thank you for reading this newsletter and sharing it with your network. I pray that we have more of God’s endurance and encouragement so we can live in harmony with one another. Many blessings to you and yours, and have a prosperous week. Please share this newsletter:
Vance Ginn, Ph.D. | www.vanceginn.com | #LetPeopleProsper