Economics can be complicated but there are plenty of historical data that is easy to follow; a second grader can understand it. I'm referring to the historical facts about the failure of government spending and tax increases to solve economic troubles such what we're experiencing today.
It is a well-documented fact that all the government spending of the Great Depression of the 1930s failed to do any good. Case in point: The unemployment rate in 1932 was 23.6%. After eight years of massive government spending the unemployment rate was 19%. The great American economist, Thomas Sowell, explains what happened in the Great Depression and how government spending had the opposite effect of what was intended. Watch this four-minute YouTube video.
In a Wall Street Journal article of November 21, 2010 economists Stephen Moore and Richard Vedder describe the results of their study of what happens when there is a tax increase. Most people believe this will solve the problem of deficits, or at least help. What Vedder and Moore found was that from World War II to 2009 (a 66-year span), for every additional dollar increase in taxes, government spends $1.17. Does raising taxes solve the problem? No. The answer has to be reducing out of control spending. Why do we fail to learn from history? Again, I'll go to one of my favorite philosophers, George Santayana: "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Case closed.
