Milton Friedman and Ted Cruz on Good Governance – Cut Spending

Milton Friedman and Ted Cruz on Good Governance – Cut Spending

Stephen Moore, of the Wall Street Journal, asked Milton Friedman, prior to his death in 2006, what would make America more prosperous.   Instantly, Friedman replied.  “Three things – promote free trade, school choice for all children, and cut government spending.”

When Moore inquired about the size of the spending cuts, Friedman answered, “As much as possible.”

Free trade and school choice are indeed very important.  However, cutting spending is of paramount importance.  The more government spends.  The more government must tax.  More taxes reduce personal spending, investment, and choices.  As a result, excessive government spending restricts economic growth and personal freedom.  Stephen Moore explains;

If the government spends a dollar, that dollar has to come from producers and workers in the private economy. There is no magical “multiplier effect” by taking from productive Peter and giving to unproductive Paul. As obvious as that insight seems, it keeps being put to the test.

Moore laments that Friedman is not alive to combat Obama’s big spending.  Fortunately, a few politicians – Paul Ryan, Jim DeMint, Jeff Flake, Mike Lee and others – know spending must be substantially cut.  Recently, Ted Cruz of Texas won the Republican Senatorial nomination on a strong platform to cut spending.  Most importantly, Cruz forcefully called for reducing government spending and debt…and it was only his primary victory!

“I am perfectly happy to compromise and work with anybody, Republicans, Democrats, libertarians, I’ll work with Martians, if – and the “if” is critical – they are willing to cut spending and reduce the debt.”

Similar to Friedman, Ted Cruz knows that in order to restore freedom and prosperity government spending must be cut”as much as possible.”  Increasingly, most Americans sense that the federal government is too big, too intrusive, too corrupt and too incompetent and cutting spending is essential to restore prosperity and freedom.  Hence, the “cut spending” message energized thousands of Texans to campaign and vote for Cruz.  Matt Kibbe, CEO of FreedomWorks, observed in Politico

Cruz won largely because his consistent, passionate support for solid conservative principles ignited a well-informed, well-trained, well-organized grass-roots activist base …

Academically, Milton Friedman and a small cadre of intellectuals – generally known as the Chicago Boys and the Austrian School – explained the benefits of limiting government spending.  Additionally, the “less spending” message was tested and explained by conservative and libertarian think-tanks.  Eventually, the message reached more and more Americans.  Today, most Americans are seeking and demanding less government.  Cruz, the Senate candidate, embraced “cutting spending,” and connected with his fellow Texans.  We the People see how incompetent and corrupt our governance is and need to be corrected.

A well-informed, well-trained,  and well-organized grass-roots activist base demanding substantial spending cuts is essential to making change in America.  Citizen activists assisting knowledgeable and courageous politicians – Ryan, DeMint, Lee, Flake, Paul, and hopefully Cruz – will restore personal freedom and prosperity.  Again, Kibbe:

An educated people are and always will be the greatest tool in a democracy. Disintermediation politics, empowering individuals from the bottom up, without centralized planning, is the future of U.S. politics and the only conceivable way that “We the People” can take back our seat at the table as citizen shareholders of our government.