Understanding Politics and Economics is Easy as PIE with Congressman Bob McEwen's Simplified Explanation
Bob McEwen is a former Republican congressman from Ohio and is a popular speaker around the country. He has a degree in economics and this is a common theme of his presentations. He has a gifted way of explaining basic economics simply to audiences who know little about it. In particular, he typically addresses the issue of how government intervention adversely affects the economics of a nation.
The subject of how much government should intervene in the nation’s economy is one of hot debate, of course, with the republicans repudiating government intervention for the most part and democrats insisting upon it.
I have to admit that, having very little training in economics myself, for most of my life I was inclined to think that government intervention was probably a good thing. However, after reading books like Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson recently and hearing Bob McEwen’s presentation, I have realized that it is really best for the most people to let the market work itself out.
Democrats always accuse the Republicans of wanting to help the rich at the expense of the poor but this is because they do not understand the psychological aspects of the marketplace that drive true economics. The truth is that low taxes for everyone including the rich and few regulations for business benefit most everyone in the long run.
Of course, there are some so called economists like Paul Krugman of the New York Times who are ideologically driven and distort the truth for the furtherance of their utopian ideology which sounds good in theory but which doesn’t work in reality because it isn’t based on a true understanding of human nature.
Below is explanation of Bob McEwen’s economics and how it combines with politics. If you want an original DVD of McEwen explaining it himself, go to http://rediscovergodinamerica.com/ . The DVD also includes great messages by other speakers including David Barton, Michelle Bachman and New Gingrich. The cost is only$9.95 which includes shipping.
Politics is made up of 2 things:
Politics = Integrity + Economics
P = I + E
What is Integrity?
Integrity is something you can count on
It will be there when you need it
Integrity Has 2 Components:
#1 Morality - not doing what is wrong
It is not enough simply to not do what is wrong
#2 Character - doing what is right
You cannot do what is right if you are doing what is wrong
Now for the Economics Part of the Equation:
Your Income
0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------100%
Now suppose someone comes along and takes 25% of your income:
0-------------------------------------------------------------------l-------------------100%
75%
They have taken away some of your choices. You have less freedom and a lower standard of living.
If someone takes it all, you have nothing. A person who works all day and keeps nothing is a slave
0---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------100 Slavery Freedom
Only 2 types of people can take your money away:
criminals and government
Whether a criminal or the government takes your money,
the impact is the same:
Greater Freedom = Greater Wealth
Greater Government = Greater Poverty
If you look at the economic statistics of any country, you will see that the GDP (gross domestic product) is directly related to the % of government control
Edward Von Mises (a great economist from the early 1900s) said the reason America has the highest standard of living of any country in the world is because her government started later on a program of interfering with private enterprise.
Types of Purchases
Type
| Price
| Quality
|
|---|---|---|
1st Party Purchase - you buy for yourself with your own money
| X
| X
|
When you buy something for yourself, you are concerned about price because you are spending your own money, and you are concerned about quality because you are going to use it
Type
| Price
| Quality
|
|---|---|---|
2nd Party Purchase - You buy for someone else
| X
| O
|
If you buy something for someone else, you are concerned about price because you are spending your own money, but you are not as concerned with quality because you are not going to use it
Type
| Price
| Quality
|
|---|---|---|
2nd Party Purchase - you get something for free
| O
| X
|
If you get something for free, you don’t care about the cost because you are not paying for it, but you do care about the quality because you are going to use it
This is the case with people who receive government subsidy programs and employer or government provided health care. This is why health care should be sold like car, home, life insurance.
When President Roosevelt passed wage and price freeze laws after WWII, organized labor came to him complaining. So he told them to have the employers pay for health care and he wouldn’t count it as a wage increase. Now since people don’t pay for their health insurance, they don’t care about the cost. This is why healthcare costs are out of control.
Type
| Price
| Quality
|
|---|---|---|
3rd Party Purchase - you buy something for someone else with money that is not yours
| O
| O
|
If you buy something for someone else with money that is not yours, you aren’t concerned about the cost because it isn’t your money and you aren’t concerned with the quality because you aren’t going to use it.
By definition, all government purchases are 3rd party purchases—that is why the government wastes so much money
This is why President Lincoln said that government should only do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Every time we take a dollar and run it through a 3rd party system, the nation becomes $1 poorer.
Two World Views
MAN is central
| GOD is central
|
|---|---|
1. Man is the standard
| 1. God is the standard
|
2. Man is good
| 2. Man needs a Savior from sin
|
3. Man's environment is responsible for his behavior
| 3. Man is responsible for his own behavior
|
(If a man shoots someone, the gun is responsible)
| (If a man shoots someone, he is responsible
|
4. Rights come from the group
| 4. Rights come from God
|
(such as unions and government)
|
A Good Example of this is North and South Korea
They both have the same natural resources, culture, climate, language and heritage. South Korea is currently the 10th richest nation on Earth. Before the U.S. brought free enterprise there after the Korean War it was the 3rd poorest country on Earth. North Korea, which has socialism/communism is currently one of the poorest nations on Earth.
If I sell hamburgers, I can’t rip you off with a $6 hamburger under free enterprise because of competition. But if government passes regulations and discourages other competition, I will be able to charge more.
This is Why We Cannot Leave God out of Government
Slavery
| Freedom
|
|---|---|
More government
| Less government
|
More taxes
| Fewer taxes
|
Weak defense
| Strong defense
|
Demand diversity
| Traditional Family Values
|
(derived from the Bible)
|
The Declaration of Independence says “they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…”
#1 Priority is to Preserve Life--the order is very important!
The Theme of the French Revolution
Liberty
Equality
Fraternity
The French Revolution left God out which resulted in life being left out.
So Madame Guillotine had a field day.
As did Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Hitler.
Without God, there is no protection for life.
Many want to severe the relationship America has with God.
Sin is anything that separates man from God.
When God is removed, life is not protected.
The result is abortion, euthanasia, etc.
There must be a spiritual understanding of what is at stake
The founders were unable to come to agreement when writing the Constitution
until they decided to include God and spend considerable time in prayer.
John Adams said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
George Washington said in his Farewell Address:
“Of all the habits and dispositions which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
The U. S. has 4% of the world population
yet she has created a third of the world’s wealth.
She has created more inventions, books, copyrights
than the rest of the world combined.
There is a reason for that and that reason is God
