200 Economists Against the Stimulus

"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government,
a recovery plan that will help to jump start the economy."
—PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9, 2009

With all due respect
Mr.President,that is not true.

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance.
More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s.
More government spending did not solve Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the
burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

BURTON ABRAMS, Univ.of Delaware
DOUGLAS ADIE, Ohio University
RYAN AMACHER, Univ.of Texas at Arlington
J.J.ARIAS,Georgia College & State University
HOWARD BAETJER, JR., Towson University
STACIE BECK,Univ.of Delaware
DON BELLANTE,Univ.of South Florida
JAMESBENNETT,George Mason University
BRUCE BENSON,Florida State University
SANJAI BHAGAT,Univ.of Colorado at Boulder
MARK BILS,Univ.of Rochester
ALBERT OBISIN,New York University
WALTER BLOCK,Loyola University New Orleans
CECIL BOHANON,Ball State University
MICHELE BOLDRIN,Washington University in St.Louis
DONALD BOOTH,Chapman University
MICHAEL BORDO,Rutgers University
SAMUEL BOSTAPH,Univ.of Dallas
SCOTT BRADFORD,Brigham Young University
GENEVIEVE BRIAND,Eastern Washington University
GEORGE BROWER,Moravian College
JAMES BUCHANAN,Nobel laureate
RICHARD BURDEKIN,Claremont McKenna College
HENRY BUTLER,Northwestern University
WILLIAM BUTOS,Trinity College
PETER CALCAGNO,College of Charleston
BRYAN CAPLAN,George Mason University
ART CARDEN,Rhodes College
JAMES CARDON, Brigham Young University
DUSTIN CHAMBERS, Salisbury University
EMILY CHAMLEE-WRIGHT, Beloit College
V.V. CHARI, Univ.of Minnesota
BARRY CHISWICK,Univ.of Illinois at Chicago
LAWRENCE CIMA, John Carroll University
J. R. CLARK, Univ.of Tennessee at Chattanooga
GIANLUCA CLEMENTI, New York University
R. MORRIS COATS, Nicholls State University
JOHN COCHRAN,Metropolitan State College
JOHN COCHRANE,Univ.of Chicago
JOHN COGAN,Hoover Institution,Stanford University
JOHN COLEMAN,Duke University
BOYD COLLIER,Tarleton State University
ROBERT COLLINGE,Univ.of Texas at San Antonio
LEE COPPOCK,Univ.of Virginia
MARIO CRUCINI,Vanderbilt University
CHRISTOPHER CULP,Univ.of Chicago
KIRBY CUNDIFF,Northeastern State University
ANTONY DAVIES,Duquesne University
JOHN DAWSON,Appalachian State University
CLARENCEDEITSCH,Ball State University
ARTHUR DIAMOND,JR.,Univ.of Nebraska at Omaha
JOHN DOBRA,Univ.of Nevada,Reno
JAMES DORN,Towson University
CHRISTOPHER DOUGLAS,Univ.of Michigan,Flint
FLOYD DUNCAN,Virginia Military Institute
FRANCIS EGAN,Trinity College
JOHN EGGER,Towson University
KENNETH ELZINGA,Univ.of Virginia
PAUL EVANS,Ohio State University
EUGENE FAMA,Univ.of Chicago
W. KEN FARR,Georgia College & State University
HARTMUT FISCHER,Univ.of San Francisco
FRED FOLDVARY,Santa Clara University
MURRAY FRANK,Univ.of Minnesota
PETER FRANK,Wingate University
TIMOTHY FUERST,Bowling Green State University
B. DELWORTH GARDNER, Brigham Young University
JOHN GAREN,Univ.of Kentucky
RICK GEDDES,Cornell University
AARON GELLMAN,Northwestern University
WILLIAM GERDES,Clarke College
MICHAEL GIBBS,Univ.of Chicago
STEPHAN GOHMANN,Univ.of Louisville
RODOLFO GONZALEZ,San Jose State University
RICHARD GORDON,Penn State University
PETER GORDON,Univ.of Southern California
ERNIE GOSS,Creighton University
PAUL GREGORY,Univ.of Houston
EARL GRINOLS,Baylor University
DANIEL GROPPER,Auburn University
R.W. HAFER,Southern Illinois University,Edwardsville
ARTHUR HALL,Univ.of Kansas
STEVE HANKE,John Hopkins
STEPHEN HAPPEL,Arizona State University
FRANK HEFNER,College of Charleston
RONALD HEINER,George Mason University
DAVID HENDERSON,Hoover Institution, Stanford University
ROBERT HERREN,North Dakota State University
GAILEN HITE,Columbia University
STEVEN HORWITZ,St.Lawrence University
JOHN HOWE,Univ.of Missouri,Columbia
JEFFREY HUMMEL,San Jose State University
BRUCE HUTCHINSON,Univ.of Tennessee at Chattanooga
BRIAN JACOBSEN,Wisconsin Lutheran College
JASON JOHNSTON,Univ.of Pennsylvania
BOYAN JOVANOVIC,New York University
JONATHAN KARPOFF,Univ.of Washington
BARRY KEATING, Univ.of Notre Dame
NAVEEN KHANNA, Michigan State University
NICHOLAS KIEFER, Cornell University
DANIEL KLEIN, George Mason University
PAULKOCH,Univ.of Kansas
NARAYANA KOCHERLAKOTA,Univ.of Minnesota
MAREK KOLAR,Delta College
ROGER KOPPL,Fairleigh Dickinson University
KISHORE KULKARNI,Metropolitan State College of Denver
DEEPA KLAL,UCLA
GEORGE LANGELETT,South Dakota State University
JAMES LARRIVIERE,Spring Hill College
ROBERT LAWSON,Auburn University
JOHN LEVENDIS,Loyola University New Orleans
DAVID LEVINE,Washington University in St.Louis
PETER LEWIN,Univ.of Texas at Dallas
DEAN LILLARD,Cornell University
ZHENG LIU,Emory University
ALAN LOCKARD,Binghampton University
EDWARD LOPEZ,San Jose State University
JOHN LUNN,Hope College
GLENN MACDONALD,Washington University in St.Louis
MICHAEL MARLOW,California Polytechnic State University
DERYL MARTIN,Tennessee Tech University
DALE MATCHECK,Northwood University
DEIRDRE MCCLOSKEY,Univ.of Illinois,Chicago
JOHN MCDERMOTT, Univ.of South Carolina
JOSEPH MCGARRITY, Univ.of Central Arkansas
ROGER MEINERS, Univ.of Texas at Arlington
ALLAN MELTZER, Carnegie Mellon University
JOHN MERRIFIELD,Univ.of Texas at San Antonio
JAMES MILLERIII,George Mason University
JEFFREY MIRON,Harvard University
THOMAS MOELLER,Texas Christian University
JOHN MOORHOUSE,Wake Forest University
ANDREA MORO,Vanderbilt University
ANDREW MORRISS,Univ.of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MICHAEL MUNGER,Duke University
KEVIN MURPHY,Univ.of Southern California
RICHARD MUTH,Emory University
CHARLES NELSON,Univ.of Washington
SETH NORTON,Wheaton College
LEE OHANIAN,Univ.of California,Los Angeles
LYDIA ORTEGA,San Jose State University
EVAN OSBORNE,Wright State University
RANDALL PARKER,East Carolina University
DONALD PARSONS,George Washington University
SAM PELTZMAN,Univ.of Chicago
MARK PERRY,Univ.of Michigan,Flint
CHRISTOPHER PHELAN,Univ.of Minnesota
GORDON PHILLIPS,Univ.of Maryland
MICHAEL PIPPENGER,Univ.of Alaska,Fairbanks
TOMASZ PISKORSKI,Columbia University
BRENNAN PLATT,Brigham Young University
JOSEPH POMYKALA,Towson University
WILLIAM POOLE,Univ.of Delaware
BARRY POULSON,Univ.of Colorado at Boulder
BENJAMIN POWELL,Suffolk University
EDWARD PRESCOTT,Nobel laureate
GARY QUINLIVAN,Saint Vincent College
REZA RAMAZANI,Saint Michael’s College
ADRIANO RAMPINI,Duke University
ERIC RASMUSEN,Indiana University
MARIO RIZZO,New York University
RICHARD ROLL,Univ.of California,Los Angeles
ROBERT ROSSANA,Wayne State University
JAMES ROUMASSET,Univ.of Hawaii at Manoa
JOHN ROWE,Univ.of South Florida
CHARLES ROWLEY,George Mason University
JUAN RUBIO-RAMIREZ,Duke University
ROY RUFFIN,Univ.of Houston
KEVIN SALYER,Univ.of California,Davis
PAVEL SAVOR,Univ.of Pennsylvania
RONALD SCHMIDT,Univ.of Rochester
CARLOS SEIGLIE,Rutgers University
WILLIAM SHUGHARTII,Univ.of Mississippi
CHARLES SKIPTON,Univ.of Tampa
JAMES SMITH,Western Carolina University
VERNON SMITH,Nobel laureate
LAWRENCE SOUTHWICK,JR.,Univ.at Buffalo
DEAN STANSEL,Florida Gulf Coast University
HOUSTON STOKES,Univ.of Illinois at Chicago
BRIAN STROW,Western Kentucky University
SHIRLEY SVORNY,California State University,Northridge
JOHN TATOM,Indiana State University
WADE THOMAS,State University of New York at Oneonta
HENRY THOMPSON,Auburn University
ALEX TOKAREV,The King’s College
EDWARD TOWER, Duke University
LEO TROY, Rutgers University
DAVID TUERCK, Suffolk University
CHARLOTTE TWIGHT, Boise State University
KAMAL UPADHYAYA, Univ.of New Haven
CHARLES UPTON, Kent State University
T. NORMAN VANCOTT, Ball State University
RICHARD VEDDER, Ohio University
RICHARD WAGNER, George Mason University
DOUGLAS M. WALKER, College of Charleston
DOUGLAS O. WALKER, Regent University
CHRISTOPHER WESTLEY, Jacksonville State University
LAWRENCE WHITE, Univ.of Missouri at St.Louis
WALTER WILLIAMS, George Mason University
DOUG WILLS, Univ.of Washington Tacoma
DENNIS WILSON, Western Kentucky University
GARY WOLFRAM, Hillsdale College
HUIZHONG ZHOU, Western Michigan University

PAID FOR BY THE CATO INSTITUTE, WWW.CATO.ORG

Oh No.

Project Vote Smart

This is an amazing site that gives you access to pretty much everything you need to know about your politicians. Voting records being the most important thing, but also bios, ratings, "scores" according to different interest groups, etc. Try it out.

8

So, I kind of missed the boat on posting about the whole proposition 8 issue. While I am surprised that the LDS church spoke out so strongly, I am shocked at how many of the members went belly-up over the whole issue.

And now, some words from prophets of the Lord:

Harold B. Lee:

“You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory’ (D&C 21:6).” (THBL, 526)

Joseph F. Smith:

“The fact of the matter is, when a man says you may direct me spiritually, but not temporally, he lies in the presence of God–that is, if he has got intelligence enough to know what he is talking about. If he has not intelligence enough to know, then he only makes a mistake. But if he has intelligence enough, he knows that the spiritual and the temporal are one, indivisible and inseparable, and that you cannot direct a man spiritually without you direct him temporally as well. The spiritual and the temporal are blended in men. No man can act upon the promptings of the Spirit but it will affect him spiritually and temporally. It is true, we are dual beings, and the body and the spirit make the soul of man; but while that is so, whatever will affect you temporally will affect you more or less spiritually, and whatever will affect you spiritually will affect you temporally. So that this splitting of hairs, this dividing of very small things, is not manly, is not brave, is not honorable, is not intelligent, but is ignorance and foolishness in the sight of the Lord. I am in this Church to be directed body and spirit to the doing of the will of the Father in heaven, and I shall not stop short of that whether it affects me temporally or spiritually.” (CD, 5:125)

Russell M. Nelson:

“From time to time, I hear people speculate on the question, ‘When does the prophet speak as a prophet, and when does he speak otherwise?’ This query seems curious to me, as if one were presumptuous enough to sit in judgment on a prophet. In my close associations with President Kimball, spanning two decades and the spectrum from suffering to sublimity, I have never asked that question. The only question I have asked has been, ‘How can I be more like him?’” (Spencer J. Condie, Russell M. Nelson: Father, Surgeon, Apostle, 176)

So True

Interesting Article

I have been slacking on this blog.

Here is an article I found on my friend Ben Crowder's blog. It is called Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps. Very eye opening.

But, just to be safe, you'd better read the criticism of this article here.

This and that

Read this and read that.

Mike is the bomb. What more need I say?