Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface: Doctor Bob's Third Law
- Introduction: Economic Ignorance
- Chapter 1 Fakeconomics and Economics
- Chapter 2 Market Worship
- Chapter 3 Finance and Criminality
- Chapter 4 Selling Market Myths
- Chapter 5 Riches, “Sovereignty” and “Free Trade”
- Chapter 6 Lies about Government
- Chapter 7 Deficit Disorders and Debt Delirium
- Chapter 8 Governments Cause Inflation?
- Chapter 9 Institutionalized Misery: Austerity in Practice
- Chapter 10 Economics of the 99%
- Notes
- Index
Chapter 6 - Lies about Government
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface: Doctor Bob's Third Law
- Introduction: Economic Ignorance
- Chapter 1 Fakeconomics and Economics
- Chapter 2 Market Worship
- Chapter 3 Finance and Criminality
- Chapter 4 Selling Market Myths
- Chapter 5 Riches, “Sovereignty” and “Free Trade”
- Chapter 6 Lies about Government
- Chapter 7 Deficit Disorders and Debt Delirium
- Chapter 8 Governments Cause Inflation?
- Chapter 9 Institutionalized Misery: Austerity in Practice
- Chapter 10 Economics of the 99%
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Governments are notoriously bad at managing the money they collect. In fairness, the obstacles are many: incompetency, corruption, the sheer complexity of disbursing huge sums, the multiplicity and difficulty of the tasks at hand… The result is that the state is always in need of more money. No matter how high the taxes, there is never enough.
(Ronald Sokol)For a long time the degree of concentration [of income and wealth] fluctuated around a fairly stable rate. But in the past two or three decades it has increased markedly, making it more difficult for supporters of capitalism to argue that a rising tide floats all boats… But for all the looming problems, it is still untrue that the nanny state knows best.
(Samuel Brittan)Government Is a Burden
The mission statement of fakeconomics includes as its central message the inherent inefficiency and intrinsic malevolence of governments at all levels. The canons of the Society of Econfakers begin with the conviction that regulation of private economic activity brings inefficiency. This inefficiency invariably results from the malicious influence of “special interests,” acting against the general welfare that free markets foster. The action of citizens in a democratic society to achieve common goals through collective action at best functions as a dictatorship of the majority. At its worst it paves the “Road to Serfdom.”
The fakeconomics worldview supports the reactionary message that taxes are a burden on honest citizens just trying to make a living.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Economics of the 1%How Mainstream Economics Serves the Rich, Obscures Reality and Distorts Policy, pp. 107 - 120Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2014