America’s Remaining Free Marketers Speak

Frank Ahrens tracked down two of “America’s remaining free-marketers” and asked them to rewrite President-elect Barack Obama’s claim that:

It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth. But at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.

Here is how our own JD Foster would have changed Obama’s statement:

But at this particular moment, only [deep reductions in income tax rates, loosening of the shackles on America’s workers and employers, investors and savers, entrepreneurs and innovators,] can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.

CATO’s Chris Edwards had this to say:

All kinds of precedents have been set over the last six months — really bad precedents, from my point of view. The Fed is doing things it has never done before. Treasury is doing things it has never done before. Congress voted against the auto bailout then the executive branch used its own slush fund.
…
I don’t believe economists have a very good model of how to manage the short-term ups and downs in an economy. Economists share a good idea of what generates good long-term growth, but not short-term growth.