Has anyone heard Kamala Harris talk about her economic polices without using the word “investment”? Me neither. She tosses that word around as if she’s got a fool proof way to make money. But in fact, the use of the word “investment” is a tell. It tells us that she lacks a useable understanding of the economy, is a lying grifter trying to con us, or both.
In Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d’Anconia is the wealthiest man in the world. He tells a friend that the thing he admires most about American is that it invented the phrase “to make money.” He means it in the literal sense – to create wealth. It is a recognition that wealth is not static. It can be created by the efforts of men adding value – a notion that very few in government understand.
When a blacksmith buys a lump of steel for a dollar, forges it into a tool, and then sells the tool to another craftsman for 20 bucks; he has created wealth. He has used his labor and expertise to add 19 dollars to the GDP (gross domestic product). In so doing, he created wealth that didn’t previously exist, to the benefit of everyone involved in the economy. His efforts allow himself, and anyone who purchases his product, to prosper without impoverishing anyone else. Nobody loses. When the economy allows wealth creation all men are enriched, either directly or indirectly. The only people who don’t benefit, are those who don’t participate.
But with only a few exceptions, the government does not add value. It can’t create wealth. To influence the economy, it can only redistribute it. Since that is its only lever of influence, that’s what it uses. Unfortunately, when an economy is controlled by redistribution (whether by theft, embezzlement, or taxation), the enrichment of one must come at the expense of others. For someone to win, someone else must lose.
That is the fallacy of Kamala’s proposed “investment.” Taking from those who have demonstrated their ability to create wealth, and giving to those who consume more than they produce, impoverishes everyone. It cannot grow the economy as promised. It’s an economy based on
- Taking before giving,
- Looting to redistribute, and
- Shifting resources from wealth creation to wealth consumption.
The impact on the economy from “government investment” is far worse than the tax collected for future investment. It is money diverted from growing the economy. If one dollar is taken as a tax from our blacksmith, he has a dollar less to
- Buy the steel needed to make a tool,
- Which a farmer would buy to grow crops,
- Which would feed others creating wealth with their labor and expertise.
Regardless of the clever title it is given, government spending diverts resources from wealth creation, to wealth consumption. It hinders economic growth, creates animosity, and trains men that the path to riches is to be the best thief. That’s why the only good government is a small government. Its only valid role is to protect those creating wealth by defending their rights, ensuring civil stability, and facing down international threats. Every dollar diverted to student loan forgiveness, prosecution of political dissenters, expansion of the administrative state, and funding overseas wars, takes thousands of future dollars out of the economy.
The only way for the government to actually encourage the expansion of the economy, is to minimize its burden on the producers. Allow those who have made money, to keep their wealth for purposes of making more money. To do otherwise is merely squeezing the golden goose for one more egg, while hoping it doesn’t die – at least not too soon.
The idea of wealth creation is apparently something that few in politicians understand. George W. Bush didn’t understand it when he signed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Barack Obama didn’t understand it when he expressed his desire to “spread the wealth around.” Joe Biden didn’t understand it when he demanded that the wealthy “pay their fair share.” And Kamala Harris doesn’t understand it when she calls for government “investment” to expand the economy. Only Donald Trump understands that allowing the productive to keep their money, is the only way to expand the economy. He is the only candidate proposing tax cuts to allow the productive to use their hard-earned resources to continue expanding the economy rather than the power and reach of the government.
On November 5 we face a clear economic choice. Will we stop demonizing those who contribute the most to our economy, or will we choke the golden goose to death, once and for all?
Author Bio: John Green is a retired engineer and political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He spent his career designing complex defense systems, developing high performance organizations, and doing corporate strategic planning. He is a contributor to American Thinker, The American Spectator, and the American Free News Network. He can be reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.
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