In all of the discussions about our current economic state, a possible regression or double dip recession, out-of-control debts, and continued high unemployment there is one conversation those who frame the media, generate the news, and pass around their opinions as “objective” pontiffs and prognosticators of politics will never engage in.
I am of course talking about the failure of Keynesian economic policies.
Now, if Ronald Reagan were president or George Bush were president or any other Republican were president, or if the Republicans were able to get their legislative initiatives out of Congress, the headlines in the same economic climate would be “death of supply side economics.” In fact, we can see that in history.
After Republican losses in 1982, the television and newspaper pundits immediately following the election suggested that Reagan’s economic vision and voodoo economic policies had been rejected by the voters. In 1992, voters were still rejecting Republican economic policies. In 2006, suddenly voters were no longer conservative. 2008 confirmed for many in the media and Democrats that the nation had drifted to the left.
This does not happen when Democrats are defeated at the polls. When Jimmy Carter was defeated in 1980, it was because of economic malaise and the Iranian hostage crisis, not Jimmy Carter loving embrace of failed British economic policies. 1994 was about gays in the military and Bill Clinton’s inability to handle politics and policy concurrently. 2010 was because the Democrats got the message wrong and did not focus on jobs. They made the tragic, unfortunate, horrible mistake of socializing medicine before creating jobs.
It is, if you will, because the job is too big for one man, not because of the man’s policies. Never mind that the job is too big for only two men, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
It is never because of the Democratic economic policies. It is never because Keynesian economics does not work. The only time economic policy does not work in the mind of the mainstream media is when voters punish Republicans at the polls. The reason for this is quite plain and quite simple.
Those people who form the news, shake the news, give voice to what’s happening as an objective commentator, and report on the daily happenings in the world tend to lean left. Consequently, they believe that in economic downturns the appropriate solution is for more government spending. These people believe that Herbert Hoover did nothing and that is what caused the great depression, never mind the massive spending Herbert Hoover implemented. These people believe the economic myths of the left and, many of them, have never worked in the free market.
This is why should you go on CNBC or the Fox Business Channel or read the Wall Street Journal or Investors Business Daily or encounter any media geared towards the free markets, you will find a healthy dose of skepticism toward Barack Obama and Keynesian economics. But should you read any other news publication or watch any other news channel or engage with those nightly talking heads on the big three networks, rarely will you encounter any sense of skepticism regarding the president’s economic policies. About the only thing you’ll find is a lament that the president is not doing more to create jobs as opposed to a recognition that the government has no idea how to create jobs.
All of this relates to the media’s worldview, which largely mirrors the Democrats’ worldview. It is a worldview premised on the idea that the more government does the better we all are. This worldview influences their coverage of the news, their coverage of Republicans in Washington, their skepticism of smaller and more limited government, and the idea that any bipartisan compromise no matter how terrible it is for the American people must definitionally be congratulated because it is a sign of good government when the parties come together.
As you continue to watch the news coverage of the deteriorating economic climate, just remember that most of the premises that will be made and enunciated are that the government must do more, not less. It will be coupled with a healthy believe that if only the government would spend more money more jobs would be created and the world would be a better place. This has nothing to do with reality and has never truly been shown to work. In fact, history shows Keynesian economics tends to lead countries into greater debt with less to show for it. Instead, the media and the Democrats should be embracing Milton Friedman and freeing up the American people to innovate, create jobs, and not be punished for being successful.
Keynesian economics does not work. Every few decades we must again bury the zombie that is John Maynard Keyes. Now is the time for us to do it again and instead invest our talents and time in resurrecting zombie Milton Friedman. Of course, should that happen, the next time the voters punish Republicans for doing something stupid and at odds with their limited government, less spending philosophy, the media will yet again begin its call that this is a rejection of Milton Friedman and free markets, in spite of all history and all evidence to the contrary, and that John Maynard Keyes be resurrected and put to work to destroy the American economy in the name of government creating jobs and a better future.
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