One purpose of the GATT is to limit the power of U.S. politicians over the choices of American consumers. The agreement seeks to protect trade from exploitative politicians and heavy-handed bureaucrats. Since the GATT must be ratified by politicians, it will certainly be far from perfect. Yet the real question is whether people will have more or less freedom with the GATT. The answer is, they will have more.
Our income tax system discriminates against long-term investments. Under current rules, investments in short-lived assets are more attractive than investments in long-lived assets. In fact, the longer the required depreciation period, the less attractive the asset is – especially during periods of inflation. The remedy for this problem is called "neutral cost recovery."
For the last several years, some critics of the American health care system have claimed that life expectancy is a good indicator of the quality of a country's health care system. If they are right, you should be indifferent about having your surgery in Cuba or in the United States because the two countries have the same life expectancy, 75.6 years.
The Veterans Administration runs the largest and least efficient hospital system in the country.
Given that we want economic growth, we have two choices. Americans must either import funds for investment from other countries or increase their saving rate. Expanded opportunities to make deposits to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are a proven way of encouraging more savings.
The partisan battle over the Republicans' "Contract With America" has obscured the fact that at least six of the contracts proposals would, if enacted, stimulate economic growth.
Beyond some minimum level, government becomes a net drain on the private sector. When resources are allocated privately, the goal is the highest economic rate of return. When they are allocated by politicians or planners, the goal is the highest political return in the form of votes and campaign contributions.