Oops, GMU’s History Department accidentally contradicts GMU’s Mercatus Center. Bye bye, history department.

By accident GMU’s History News Network (I actually have no idea how closely it is related to the history department, you would be reasonable to assume some) passed along a story that undermined a Mercatus narrative. I expect the retribution was swift, I can’t find the story there now.

Happened to listen to this podcast

http://mercatus.org/podcast/2013/03/25/daniel-sutter-discusses-welfare-block-grants-model-medicaid-reform-inside-state

Daniel Sutter said something that sounded fishy. He was discussing the success of Clinton era welfare reform and his metric was caseload, which is kind of like trying to tell who is winning a baseball game by counting the number of tickets sold. Daniel Sutter and the host reassured each other with the standard planters points that the slaves were lazy, had bad attitudes, didn’t know how good they had it etc.

At the time I thought the razor in the apple was the prison population going up about the same time. But then

“History News Network – NPR’s This American Life is reporting a story that undermines the claims of success for the Clinton-era reform of welfare. After the legislation was passed by Congress welfare rolls dropped by half in two years. Where did all the people go who were dropped? The assumption at the time was that they found jobs. But NPR reports strong evidence that millions simply moved from welfare to the Social Security disability program. Growth in the program exploded in a few short years. States hired companies to push people from welfare onto the rolls of the disabled to save money. Welfare is jointly paid for by both the states and the federal government. Social Security is paid for entirely by the federal government.”

http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2013/03/npr-exposes-con-behind-clintons-welfare.html

http://mercatus.org/publication/welfare-block-grants-guide-medicaid-reform

Frackademic Russ Roberts pretends he doesn’t understand macro

http://cafehayek.com/2013/03/everything-you-need-to-know-about-macro.html

http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/03/14/frackademia-strikes-again-usc-powering-california-study

If you believe this, then the rise of neoliberalism is a no-brainer. Neoliberalism is simply the economic philosophy that works. But why should anyone believe this? The idea that unleashing free markets then leads to good economic times should never have survived the Great Depression, and should surely be killed for good by the Great Recession and its aftermath.

“In the past 14 months, tightened sanctions have nearly halved the value of Iran’s currency and fuelled soaring inflation” (How can Russ Roberts and Don Boudreaux claim basic macro doesn’t work when we use it as a weapon of war every day?)

I am sorry for the response your Grace’s proposals are meeting here today, so near the spot where your maternal grand-mother, by giving some forty-eight hours notice, marshaled 1,500 men to pick out the 800 she required. But there is a cause for it, and a genuine cause, and, as your Grace demands to know it, I must tell you, as I see that none else is inclined in the assembly to do so. These lands are now devoted to rear dumb animals which your parents considered of far more value than men . . . . your parents, yourself and your Commissioners have desolated the glens and the straths of Sutherland where you should find hundreds, yea thousands of men to meet and respond to your call cheerfully had your parents kept faith with them. How could your Grace expect to find men where they are not?

As Michael Brander tells it, in his book on the Scottish Highland Regiments, the Scottish Highlands produced, between 1740 and 1815 men for some 86 Highland Regiments who travelled around the world to strengthen the British Empire. But, towards the end of that period sheep were introduced into Scotland and the great land clearances began that replaced the crofters on the estates with the occasional lone shepherd and his flocks. Thus, by the time of the Crimean War when the Duke of Sutherland tried to raise a regiment he got no volunteers. As an old man explained to him:

I am sorry for the response your Grace’s proposals are meeting here today, so near the spot where your maternal grand-mother, by giving some forty-eight hours notice, marshaled 1,500 men to pick out the 800 she required. But there is a cause for it, and a genuine cause, and, as your Grace demands to know it, I must tell you, as I see that none else is inclined in the assembly to do so. These lands are now devoted to rear dumb animals which your parents considered of far more value than men . . . . your parents, yourself and your Commissioners have desolated the glens and the straths of Sutherland where you should find hundreds, yea thousands of men to meet and respond to your call cheerfully had your parents kept faith with them. How could your Grace expect to find men where they are not?

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/9849

Don Boudreaux and Russ Roberts trot out the same tired minimum wage myths.

Media Matters has a good debunking, as usual (they have to repost this regularly):

http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/02/15/the-minimum-wage-myths-amp-facts/192692

Don Boudreaux, all those ‘issues that need to be addressed’? You are supposed to address them BEFORE you write the article. ‘It’s all so confuuusing!’ is an excuse used by a teenage girl, not a senior academic economist.

I really don’t caricature Don Boudreaux. This is what he actually thinks.

I really don’t caricature Don Boudreaux. This is what he actually thinks.

http://factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-really-dont-caricature-don-boudreaux.html

Last year’s annual report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development should have been an obituary for the neoliberal model developed by Hayek and Friedman and their disciples. It shows unequivocally that their policies have created the opposite outcomes to those they predicted.

If you think we’re done with neoliberalism, think again

Donald J Boudreaux, 1956, and the curious case of the missing decades in between.

Donald J Boudreaux, 1956, and the curious case of the missing decades in between.

A brief history lesson, the GMU econ department has been the local good-time girl for large corporations to purchase denial services going all the way back to big tobacco in the 1980’s. Lately the stimulus denier jobs (Russ Roberts) have dried up as the stimulus wound down, but they always have a standing order for income-inequality deniers from the Koch brothers et. al. God forbid some rich bastard loses a few basis adjustment points on his taxes someday. Boudreaux has been going through a 1956 Sears catalog trying to show you that you could buy dresses working fewer hours per week today than in 1956. Interestingly, no other considerations ever carry any weight except those he cherry picks, which is why I sometimes call Don Boudreaux the ‘one-dimensional wonder’.

Another charming conceit of Russ and Don is that, being academic economists, they are always experts in any discipline they fancy and superior to well, actual experts in that discipline. I’ve lost count but between them they are expert petroleum reservoir engineers, manufacturing cost accountants, automotive design engineers, health insurance underwriters, and consumer credit law ombudsmen. Don’s just added Procurement Manager to his skillset, even though any actual procurement manager could tell you a 1956 dress and a 2012 dress are not made out of the same raw materials. A 1956 dress is made out of meat and potatoes, and a 2012 dress is made out of fish heads and rice

Anyhoo, since Don Boudreux has had some ‘missing time’, maybe from a UFO abduction, here’s some links from 2012 to the relevant years in the past to help him catch up on the ‘missing decades’…

————pre 1950
Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

Young adult employment is now at the lowest level that we have seen since World War II.

The 70 per cent labor force participation rate for men was at lowest level recorded since the government began tracking it in 1948.

From 1947 to 1979 family income of the bottom 20% went up 116% and those in the top 20% went up 99%. . . Between 1980 and 2009, the bottom 20% went up 15% while the top 20% went up 95%

————1956
Drought in US wost since 1956

————1962
The US is second to last Self-employment in non-farm businesses has fallen by nearly half over the past 50 years.

————1968
(The Nation) Minimum wage in real value less than in 1968

(Bloomberg) Minimum wage corrected for inflation is lower than 1968 level

————1969
Median wealth of families worse since 1969

Food stamp use hits record level.

The number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Speed of first class mail delivery down 22% since 1969

————1970
Median family income down 8% since 1970, net worth down 39%

————1971
According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of all Americans were “middle income” back in 1971. Today, only 51 percent of all Americans are.

————1972
The class of 2012 scored the lowest average SAT reading score since 1972

Earnings of men collapse over past 40 years

————1975
A higher percentage of children is living in poverty in America today than was the case back in 1975.

Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.

————1980
A third of American middle class in the 1970s has fallen out of it

Office space per worker down by over a half since the 1970’s

————1981
The labor force participation rate has fallen by an unprecedented 2.5 percentage points since December 2007, slumping to a 31-year low of 63.5 percent.

————1984
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an all-time record 49 percent of all Americans live in a home where at least one person receives financial assistance from the federal government. Back in 1983, that number was less than 30 percent.

In 1984, the median net worth of households led by someone 65 or older was 10 times larger than the median net worth of households led by someone 35 or younger. Today, the median net worth of households led by someone 65 or older is 47 times larger than the median net worth of households led by someone 35 or younger.

————1986
Corrected for inflation, housing prices are at 1986 levels

————1990
High school student employment down 50% since 1990

————1992
Teacher morale at lowest in 20 years

————1993
Poverty level worst since 1993

————1995
The median income of American households dropped to its lowest level since 1995 last year

From 1995 to 2010, as America’s prison population grew 42 percent, the number of inmates over 55 grew at nearly seven times that rate

————1999
In 1999, 64 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance. Today, only 55 percent are covered by employment-based health insurance.

————2000
In 2010, 8.3 million Americans over 60 faced the threat of hunger — up 78 percent from a decade earlier

————2001
Median household income for families with children dropped by $6,300 between 2001 and 2011.

The U.S. share of global GDP has fallen from 31.8 percent in 2001 to 21.6 percent in 2011.

In 2000, there were more than 17 million Americans working in manufacturing, but now there are less than 12 million.

From 2000 to 2010, the number of children living in poverty jumped from 12.2 million to 15.7 million, an increase of nearly 30 percent.

There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

————2002
According to USA Today, many Americans have actually seen their water bills triple over the past 12 years.

According to USA Today, many Americans have actually seen their water bills triple over the past 12 years.

Student loan debt is the only category of consumer debt still rising in post-recession America. It’s grown 275% in the last decade to $905 billion, more than total general consumer credit card debt.

————2005
More than three times as many new homes were sold in the United States in 2005 as will be sold in 2012.

————2006
For the first time ever, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. That number has risen by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year.

————2007
Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.

Median net worth for middle class families dropped by nearly 40 percent from 2007-2010

Britain, US big economic losers over past five years

In 2007, the unemployment rate for the 20 to 29 age bracket was about 6.5 percent. Today, the unemployment rate for that same age group is about 13 percent.

————2009
America has lost over 200,000 teachers, 56,000 cops, and 30,000 emergency responders since 2009

————2010, record high
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a record high of 429,247 non-citizens in the 2011 fiscal year, an increase of 18 percent over 2010

————2011, record high
In 2011, exports accounted for 13.8 percent of the US economy — higher than any year since an anomalous boom during World War I.

————2012, record high
Record number of Americans 55 and older are still working

————2012, record high
The US has its highest per-capita prison population and has more per-capita prisoners than any country in history

————2012, record low
People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire.

————2012, record high
>For the first time ever, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless.

————2012, record high
Child homelessness up 33% in three years setting record

I cribbed almost the entire page from here. Sorry, but this is a spare-time no-budget gig for me, unlike Russ Roberts and Don Boudreaux who get paid for 40 hours a week of shilling for the malefactors of great wealth.