The Broken Window Fallacy

Stephen Gutowski
Worth Reading

Liberals are constantly insisting that government
spending will stimulate the economy and create
lots of jobs. Here is all you need to know to realize
how wrong that theory is:



It’s that simple. Wealth can either stay in the private
sector or the government can rip it out and use it for
it’s own purposes. Anytime the government takes wealth
out of the private sector that will, inevitably, result in
lower productivity from the private sector.

That, of course, leaves us to one conclusion.
The only way you can believe that government programs
stimulate the economy is if you believe that the government
is more efficient than the private sector. And the only way
you can believe the government is more efficient than the
private sector is if you’re a life-long shut-in who is also
high on crack.

Therefor the government should stick to taking wealth out
of the private sector only when necessary. In other words,
the government should stick to things that it and only it can
or should do. And though we may debate about what exactly
it is that only the government can or should do but, surely,
providing cocaine to monkeys and many many many many
many many other things our government currently does is
beyond it’s proper role.