Tag Economic

Are Democrats Smarter than a 6th grader on economics?

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

English: A teacher and young pupils at The Bri...

Dr. Jay Richards tells a great story about his sixth grade teacher’s explanation of economics. One day the teacher came into class and gave each student a small toy…a silly putty egg, a whiffle ball, a set of Barbi trading cards, and so on. (This was back in the day when 6th graders were still kids, not the mini adults parents send to school today.) The teacher said, “Each of you look at your toy and the ones around you. Then I want you to mark on a piece of paper how much you like the toy on a 1 to 10 scale. A 10 means you love it and you wouldn’t trade for anything you see. A 1 means you hate it and would trade for anything else. Everything else means you are somewhere in the middle.” Each child submitted a number. The teacher added them up, and wrote the sum on the board.

“Now,” said the teacher, “you are sitting in five rows of five desks each. You may trade freely with any student in your row, but you don’t have to trade if you don’t want to.”

After a few minutes some of the students had traded toys, and the teacher once again asked them to write a number representing how much they liked their toy. Amazingly (if you are a zero sum believer) the sum of the numbers was higher. The toys were the same, but free trade had made the children collectively much happier.

The teacher then told the class they could now trade with anyone in the room as many times as they liked. There was pandemonium for a few minutes as the kids moved around trading, re-trading, laughing, and enjoying the exercise. At the end, the teacher added up their submitted numbers. As someone who believes in a free economy would expect, the last sum was much higher than the earlier ones.

One notable thing from this elementary school exercise is that there was nothing new added to the equation…no new wealth, in other words. The kids made themselves happier by creating an exchange on their own terms, without strict rules (government regulations), without intervention by the teacher or school board (bureaucracy), without someone taking away their toys (taxation) and giving them to someone else (redistribution). Imagine what the result might have been if, like in a free economy, new and better toys (new wealth) had been added to the exchange. Eventually, newer and better toys would have allowed every child in the room to mark his or her toy as a “10.”

Zero sum? Don’t believe it! Zero sum economics is one of the many canards invented by Marxists and adopted by Democrats whose main desire is to control all the wealth generated by the working people of America. Free trade coupled with invention will create more wealth and greater contentment for all.

Obama and the Democrats are wrong. American ingenuity and businesses do not steal dollars from the poor; quite the contrary, those once-lauded elements of the American experience actually create new wealth, which creates new jobs and opportunities for all citizens, which creates even more wealth!

Proving that they are not smarter than a 6th grader. 

eagle_feather_icon.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.
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Finally a Prominent Democrat Goes on Record Supporting Tax Cuts

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Picture of John F. Kennedy

Image via Wikipedia

Tax reduction thus sets off a process that can bring gains for everyone, gains won by marshaling resources that would otherwise stand idle—workers without jobs and farm and factory capacity without markets. Yet many taxpayers seemed prepared to deny the nation the fruits of tax reduction because they question the financial soundness of reducing taxes when the federal budget is already in deficit. Let me make clear why, in today’s economy, fiscal prudence and responsibility call for tax reduction even if it temporarily enlarged the federal deficit—why reducing taxes is the best way open to us to increase revenues. _President John F. Kennedy,   Economic Report of the President,

Now there is a Kennedy legacy that should be promoted and not universal health care. I wonder if this is why he was shot? Just wondering considering how vitriolic the left are toward anyone mentioning tax cuts today.

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This is What Makes America Great

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In spite of all the blather coming forth from capital hill, this story once again proves the greatness of America. When the American people are FREE to live their lives and make their own decisions, we have proven time and again the USA is an altruistic nation. Although the current crop of political hacks continually speak down our nation and our economy, there are still hope for change. America is still great because her people are great.
clipped from www.odemagazine.com

Standard economic theory states that people are interested only in their own material gain. But new insights from behavioral economics show that altruism rather than avarice is our primary motivation.
The City of Yonkers, New York, wound up in a distressing predicament early this year. The municipal budget was running a deficit and the economic crisis was sorely aggravating the problem. Layoffs were needed and among the casualties were six firefighters, including, most regrettably, a young man who’d recently rescued several children from a burning apartment building. The job cuts were due to go into effect the first week of January.
But then something remarkable happened. The men and women of the Yonkers Fire Department offered to work days free for six months so the city could save money and their colleagues could save their jobs. The deal was approved by 75 percent of firefighters and the layoffs were avoided.
“We banded together and voted to save our brethren.”
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Government Prints New Currency To Ease Government Debt

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Monopoly Justice

Image by mtsofan via Flickr

With the rate the government is spending taxpayer money,
the dollar will soon be worth about as much as Monopoly money.
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Capitalism: A Bull Market Concept

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

1Co 9 (GW) Moses’ Teachings say, “Never muzzle an ox when it is threshing grain.” God’s concern isn’t for oxen. 10 Isn’t he speaking entirely for our benefit? This was written for our benefit so that the person who plows or threshes should expect to receive a share of the crop. 1 Corinthians 9:9-10


This is the main force behind capitalism and the free market system of the United States. A man works expecting to get a return on that work. Companies produce products they hope to sell for a profit. Companies, nor individuals would long endure lengthy periods of non-reward. If a company continues to loose revenue in the course of doing business it would cease doing business. If an individual would be forced to continually work for less or nothing at all, it would not take long before that individual gives up and quits working.

Our economy works the same way. It will cease to operate if all profit is removed from the system through heavy taxation or over regulation. If the cost of doing business exceeds the reward of the same, then business will cease, production will dry up and there will be nothing more to tax or regulate. Therefore allow a workman to make a decent wage, allow companies to operate at a profit, do not MUZZLE the ox that is actually producing. After all if you stop production there will be nothing to take and give to anyone. If however you allow producers to produce there will be enough to not only feed the ox that is doing the work but others as well. Keep the ox happy and you live long and prosper. Bull markets are more favorable then bear markets wouldn’t you think?

Think about it next time you pull the lever for more government taxation, oversight, regulation and intervention.

Pay a man what he is worth and stop muzzling the ox that stamps out the grain. Heavy taxation only stifles the workman because he looses hope in a harvest and gives up. Redistribution of wealth robs a man of his willingness to produce. Taking his hard earned fields in order to give it to someone who has not labored is demoralizing. Heavy taxation upon what a man produces will only cause him to find ways to avoid the heavy taxation or completely give up the process altogether.

Government bailouts are not only non-constitutional I feel they are not even biblical. What say you?
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