41. Markets Work: Why Don't We Trust People?
In this newsletter, I discuss how the economic and fiscal situations in the U.S. and Texas, and how the overreaction of governments create worse outcomes when markets work best to let people prosper.
Hello Friend,
I hope you’re well. There’s been a lot going on over the last week. Thank you for tuning in to another newsletter where my motto is: Free-market capitalism best lets people prosper! I cut through the noise so that my goal of finding ways to support more human flourishing can happen. Please subscribe here if you haven’t yet. Thanks!
Personal take: The family is doing well. We have the next ultrasound for our baby girl on August 23rd, so we’re continuing to pray for good news. My oldest son starts first grade tomorrow at a private Christian school where they will have in-person classes with voluntary mask-wearing, as it should be. Personal responsibility is a key part of living a fulfilled life whereby government should be limited to only preserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness rather than control our actions because they don’t believe we know how to calculate risk to meet our unique needs. This is what economist Friedrich Hayek called the knowledge problem by a few politicians and intellectuals in government as they don’t have the information available to individuals in the marketplace, which ultimately those policy choices lead us down the road to serfdom (you should read his book titled this if you haven’t yet). I understand some of you may disagree with me on my takes on this matter, and that’s perfectly fine, please share your thoughts with me anytime! I do continue to pray for us and our country, and I hope you’ll keep us in your prayers.
Hot take: The situation in Afghanistan is very troubling regarding President Biden’s foreign policy and the future of the Middle East. With that said, I agree with us leaving Afghanistan after two decades there, a massive amount of taxpayer dollars spent, and many American and Afghani lives lost; I was thankful that President Trump started this process. However, the Trump administration had a process to follow for what was hoped to be a stable withdrawal rather than the awfully managed withdrawal by the Biden administration. I’m not sure how much better the overall outcome would have been between the two administrations’ policies, as the Taliban with their concerning Wahabi faith would likely have taken over Afghanistan regardless, but the way that President Biden led this is a disaster. Let’s pray for the military families and for the future of America and learn from this lesson of the difficulty if not impossibility of trying to changes institutions from the outside along with the importance of having a strategic plan to withdraw.
While I agree in general with the first paragraph in this @POTUS tweet, as externally forced institutional change is difficult if not impossible, the point of the second paragraph is wrong given the awfully handled withdrawal. #Afghanistan #Biden https://t.co/f7rGnbUObkThe events we are seeing now are sadly the proof that no amount of American military force would ever deliver a stable, united, secure Afghanistan. What is happening now could just as easily have happened five years ago — or fifteen years in the future.
President Biden @POTUS
Now for the latest on the economic & fiscal situations in Texas & D.C. & COVID.
TEXAS ECONOMIC AND FISCAL SITUATION
There remains no quorum in the Texas House because Democrats haven’t returned to the job they were elected to serve. And we’re missing out on a lot including a growing consensus to provide property tax relief with the current surplus and path to eliminating the school district M&O property taxes, as 54 members have signed on to HB 122. Thread on this issue.
Institutions matter. Don’t Mess With Texas!
Given all the nonsense by school districts mandating masks (where’s the evidence for kids?), and the Texas Supreme Court halting those decisions, the time for education freedom is now. Fortunately, HB 150 by Rep. Middleton would provide this in Texas. We need it added to the special session call by Gov. Abbott.
The Conservative Texas Budget approach works…need more of it!
More efforts to bring on workers in Texas.
U.S. ECONOMIC AND FISCAL SITUATION
Policymakers should reject Biden’s plan to hurt the poor (and everyone else).
This is shocking…and ridiculous.
Sad to see this. We must improve our education system. How about getting rid of Critical Race Theory and replace it with Critical Economic Theory?
Heads up, #Democrats. Free-market capitalism best lets people prosper.🎉 Big-government socialism best let’s people suffer.🤯 #txlege #congress @nypost thecannononline.com/life-liberty-a… @TPPFMajority of Democratic voters now prefer socialism to capitalism, poll finds https://t.co/mjgAI8FwtI https://t.co/WKMcIcMCKp
New York Post @nypostThe U.S. economy and job creation could be much better without burdensome fiscal and monetary policies, which should be led by rules rather than discretion.
Don’t miss my latest take on the economic and fiscal situation in the U.S. @TPPF #letpeopleprosper texaspolicy.com/an-insiders-in… #economy #inflation #GDP #jobsreport
These latest “infrastructure” bills amounting to about $6 trillion with appropriate accounting would fundamentally transform America into something it is not and we can’t afford (listen to my interview of the Bill Martinez show). Part of this is understanding the seen and unseen. Here’s my latest commentary:
As the Biden administration extended the pause in student loan payments, my colleagues EJ Antoni and Joe Phelan make a strong case why this is bad policy.
“Just like the unemployment bonus, eviction & foreclosure moratoriums, food stamp expansion, Medicaid growth, & enhanced child tax credit, the moratorium on federal student loans is keeping Americans out of the workforce.” @TPPF thecannononline.com/the-neverendin… #congress #txlege #Biden
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.
Lockdowns Failed to Lower #COVID19 Cases and Crippled State Economies breitbart.com/politics/2021/… @BreitbartNews @BeaconTN #txlege
Progressive media outlets like the Texas Tribune keep making errors in their quest to create fear so that politicians can impose more control without little to no repurcussions.
There is concern about the shortage of staffed beds and ICU beds, but there may be a supply of nurses to blame rather than just an increase in COVID cases, as we need more information on this. Gov. Abbott requested more nurses to Texas.
Here’s more information on the spread of RSV among young kids.
Don’t forget that the first two major waves in Texas had restrictions in place.
Gov. Greg Abbott thankfully lifted state restrictions on March 10, 2021, and blocked local restrictions on May 21, 2021. This 3rd major wave appears different than the first two. The case count is similar to Wave 1 so far, but the CFR (case fatality rate) is 1/5 of what it was in Wave 1. And with about half as many new cases per day so far, the CFR is 1/4 of Wave 2. Although the Delta variant may be more contagious, it isn’t as deadly from either a less severe variant, vaccinations or recoveries that provide antibodies are helping, or some other answer. Let’s hope the situation is peaking soon as noted by Rt, the rate of contagion, is 1.03.
8/15/21 #Texas #COVID19 Nearing Peak?🙏 C19 hospitalizations/staffed beds=20.2% (#Austin=17.1%) Available staffed beds=13.5% (Austin=11.7%) 7-day: New cases up & fatalities up CFR: Wave #1=2.5%, #2=1.8%, #3=0.5% @TPPF @therealarod1984 @MattMackowiak @MattRinaldiTX #txlege
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 https://t.co/L6GHwQjsnM https://t.co/ew4S25YT2w
Vance Ginn @VanceGinn
Closing Thoughts
I recently finished President Calvin Coolidge’s autobiography, which solidified him being one of my favorite presidents. We need more like him. This point is correct:
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 prosperity in our lives. Many blessings to you and yours, and have a prosperous week.
Vance Ginn, Ph.D. | www.vanceginn.com | #LetPeopleProsper