by Gary Galles
Mises.org
For months, I have seen articles about the massive economic ignorance infesting candidates’ views and how they would “fix” what they think are the nation’s problems. They essentially say that neither candidate knows enough to pass an economics principles course, much less enough to advance Americans’ general welfare. I cannot disagree.
The candidates sometimes say things with some sense (recognizing burdens from regulation). But, they have failed in their understanding of opportunity cost (free college and paid leave) and comparative advantage (protectionism); that market incomes are earned by benefiting others (making “the rich” pay more); property rights and the role of profits (suggestions for mandatory profit sharing); the market for labor (proposals to hike minimum wages and opposition to right-to-work laws); and capital (wanting greater taxation of owners of capital but calling taking your resources for others an investment).