Opinion
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa, The Prickley Pear News
08-23-24
Sadly, the presidential race is unfocused on America’s most critical issue. This issue is so crucial that everything else, such as inflation, geopolitical conflicts, immigration, the decline of manufacturing, and cultural conflicts, depends on where you stand on it. I’m referring to the limits of government. Based on both candidates’ approaches, there seem to be no clear limits, except for Trump’s spasmodic criticism of excessive regulation.
The two dominant parties are off in la-la land, unaware of the colossal growth of the welfare state, the regulatory state, and the warfare state. They generally mistake the symptoms for the causes and sometimes confuse the problems with the solutions.
The U.S. has a serious fiscal and monetary crisis at hand, including a public debt that grew from 31 percent of GDP in 1980, when the ratio bottomed out, to 122 percent today. The Fed’s balance sheet has exploded, growing from less than $900 billion in 2007 to $7.2 trillion today (it was even higher in recent years.) This crowding out of private savings and investment and the dilution of the value of money has significantly slowed the rate of growth of the productivity of the U.S. economy despite technological advances.
Read the full article here: Why the 2024 Election Misses the Mark on America’s Most Critical Issue (pricklypear.news)
