Author: Paul Prentice
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GUEST COLUMN: Battle of ideas at the core of political discourse
Recently we presented a workshop, titled “Three Punches to Knock Down Democratic Socialism” at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver. We thought not many people would be interested in such a dry subject, yet over 100 people turned up at our workshop and we had standing room only. The overwhelming interests in this topic shows…
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GUEST COLUMN: Socialism can never work
America will never be a socialist country. So spoke President Donald Trump at his State of the Union address. Prior to making that statement, he said that Americans are born free and will stay free. He understands that you cannot have a controlled economy and maintain a free society. What does this mean? Why did…
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GUEST COLUMN: In support of Trump’s terrific tariffs
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save What? A free-market economist supporting tariffs? Well, I never! But all the pearl-clutching by the globalist Republican establishment, and by many Democrats as well, misses the point. Allow me to explain. President Donald Trump has…
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Long-needed tax reform will end nation’s sluggish economic growth
The public discussion of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is obsessed with a narrow view of short-term winners and losers. It is based on greed, envy, and coveting. Those negative human emotions are not solid ground upon which to make public policy. The discussion misses the long-term purpose of tax reform. The U.S. economy…
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GUEST COLUMN: So-called renewable energy wastes scarce resources
A recent Gazette headline and story, “Renewable energy lab forges ahead” (July 10), contains much false information. If this information is believed and acted upon it will lead to a tremendous waste of scarce resources. In doing so, it will create more poverty, not less. The news story actually reads more like a press release…
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GUEST COLUMN: American economic nationalism
There is much concern among free-market economists that President Donald Trump’s policies on foreign trade represent classic “trade protectionism.” This protectionism, according to classical free-traders, will make the U.S. and world economy worse off in the same way that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 deepened and lengthened the Great Depression. I beg to differ.…
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Point/counterpoint: What should be done about the pay gap between men and women?
Question: What should be done about the pay gap between men and women? Paul Prentice Progressives and other left-wing statists like to make a big fuss over the alleged “gender pay gap.” They claim that it results from having a market-based economy. They cite statistics that, in the United States, the median earnings of women…
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GUEST COLUMN: Higher minimum wages bad for business, the economy, and for low-skilled workers
Tracy Ducharme’s recent op-ed piece, “Small business owner makes the case for higher minimum wage,” attempts to refute The Gazette editorial against a higher minimum wage. Her main arguments are (1) Higher wages lead to higher worker productivity; and (2) Higher wages lead to increased spending. Let’s take them one a time, using economic logic…
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Disasters hinder rather than boost economies
The Gazette has run a number of stories regarding the purportedly positive impact of disasters, such as the Waldo Canyon fire, on the Colorado Springs economy. The most recent of these was the top-of-the-fold, front-page story, “Much Lost, Much Gained” (July 5, 2015). I beg to differ. Fires destroy economic wealth, they don’t create it.…
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GUEST COLUMN: Let vets take charge of their health care
Many horror stories have emerged over the past year regarding Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and the shoddy care they sometimes provide. The system appears to be full of the type of fraud, waste, and abuse that is all-too-typical of centralized government programs. A lifetime of subsidized health care is an earned benefit from military service…