The relatively unknown, yet academically noted 19th century pro-capitalist economist, Claude Frederic Bastiat, was correct again. Yet few American citizens have learned his lesson well. Bastiat dwelt on the difference of economic consequences of what are seen and what are unseen.
Relative to the Obama stimulus: We see and hear about the government spending almost a trillion dollars to pump up the American economy. But we cannot see any positive effects on the economy. Only failure.
What if the trillion dollars were not spent? Were the funds taken from the public as taxes or loans not been spent by government, would they have been used more efficiently by other, private means?
And remember another lesson learned over the years by many governments the world over: You cannot increase consumer spending and thus avoid recessions, by mere government spending.
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