Economic Slight of Hand

Big Government vs. Small Government ~ Which is Best?

It's easy to play tricks with numbers. Multipliers and reserves (money creation) and such. I prefer to take a different approach. There are fixed resources (labor and capital) at any given time. The government currently lays claim to a subset of the available resources, as does private enterprise and individuals. Depending on your beliefs as to the role of government, the government should either increase, decrease (or maintain the status quo) it's claim on those resources.

In my opinion and experience, the lives of citizens are improved when they, as free people, control the bulk of the resources; particularly when those resources pertain to their trade and/or quality of life. And I agree with McCain, that when we're given responsibility for our own success, we usually increase our pies (resources), and when we let the government run our lives our pies usually diminish. Bush moved the claim on resources to his socialist elites and we're in a mess. Obama will move it to his socialist cronies, and we'll be in a bigger mess. McCain, with his small government and low tax rhetoric, and his ornery personage, will likely reduce the government's claims on resources and/or reduce its effectiveness at shrinking our pies: which is just what I want.