One aspect missing from the larger debate over inflation is how government responses to runaway prices threaten freedom.
The Cato Institute’s Jim Dorn tackles this issue, beginning with a history lesson about wage and price controls:
…in the heat of August 1971, President Richard M. Nixon issued Executive Order 11615 to impose the first wage and price controls since World War II. They were intended to suppress inflation, which at the time was less than 5 percent. But just as they did during wartime, the 1971 price controls went on to distort market prices and led to shortages.
When the controls were lifted, after 90 days, inflation continued its upward trend due to the still rapid monetary growth and, by 1975, stagflation reared its ugly head. However, the price controls, low interest rates, and fast money growth were still supported by then Fed chairman Arthur Burns and helped get Nixon reelected in 1972. It was not a proud moment for the central bank, but could it happen again?
No one knows for sure. But those in control of, or wedded to, the current fiscal and monetary order assure us that whatever price rises we witness today will pass very soon, and there’s no need to worry.
Except when there is. And as Dorn writes, the government is pouring fuel on the inflationary fire:
If inflation persists, and the Fed caters to political pressure to keep rates near zero to finance the growing federal debt and prop up asset prices, it would be tempting for progressives to call for price controls. Those controls would be dressed up as a temporary measure to stabilize prices and win votes, but they would not address the underlying inflationary pressures stemming from excessive money growth and fiscal dominance.
And this is the threat to freedom:
The risk is that fiscal dominance will prevail and executive privilege will once again be used to impose price controls that will temporarily suppress inflation and create shortages, just as in 1971. A short period of price controls like in 1971 is especially attractive as it would be used to smooth over the volatility as the economy returns to pre-pandemic norms.
The challenge for the Fed is to avoid being captured by fiscal doves and those who see the Fed as a vehicle for satisfying special interests. Although we are far from the double-digit inflation of the 1970s, an acceleration of inflation from its current levels could make the idea of price controls attractive.
They would be attractive only to those who want to maintain power. And that is dangerous, both to markets and to freedom.
*****
By Mike Huckabee
If my grandkids played a game, and every time they lost, they demanded that the rules be changed so they’d win every time, I would have to sit them down and have a talk with them about the importance of fairness and being a good loser. I’d have to explain that when some people refuse to abide by the agreed-upon rules, civil society breaks down, and anarchy reigns.
Fortunately, I don’t have to do that because my grandchildren are too intelligent and mature to ever behave so childishly and selfishly. So I’m going to have to save that lecture for the leaders of the Democratic Party.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down a couple of decisions that the Democrats didn’t like it. In simple terms, the Court ruled that it’s not okay to change election laws, like allowing ballot harvesting or letting people vote in the wrong precinct when they violate the rules established by the states’ elected representatives. Justice Alito explained, in simple terms, you’d think even a child could understand, that...
“Fraud can affect the outcome of a close election and fraudulent votes dilute the right of citizens to cast ballots that carry appropriate weight.” (Note: that means every fraudulent vote disenfranchises a legitimate voter)…“Fraud can also undermine public confidence in the fairness of elections and the perceived legitimacy of the announced outcome.”
Seems reasonable enough. But how did Democrats react? Well, President Biden declared that he was “deeply disappointed” in the Court for upholding racist laws and “weakening voting rights laws,” and once again touted the “For The People Act,” the Democrats’ attempt to seize federal control of elections and legalize practices like banning voter ID laws. That would not only undermine election integrity, but it's opposed by majorities of Americans of virtually all demographic groups. So we "protect democracy" by ignoring the will of the majority?
Other Democrats also attacked the Court and renewed their call for packing the SCOTUS by expanding it with liberal activists – i.e., changing the rules so they win every time.
At this point, they may be beyond the “stern talking-to” phase. The voters may have no choice but to give them a spanking at the polls in 2022 and send them to their rooms until they learn how to behave like mature adults. Considering some of them are in their 70s and that hasn’t happened yet, I doubt it will succeed, but I certainly hope the voters give it a try.
ICYMI: A Good Day For Conservatives In The Supreme Court
It was a good day for conservatives in the Supreme Court, with two 6-3 rulings in our favor. I already wrote about the SCOTUS upholding Arizona’s voter integrity law against DNC opposition. The wider meaning of the ruling is that you can’t get a law overturned just by claiming it has a disparate impact on minorities; you have to show that it was enacted with the intent of discrimination. Today’s Democrats like to claim that racism is the intent of every action, but actually proving it may be a lot harder.
Later, the SCOTUS issued its final ruling of this term, striking down California’s requirement that charities have to disclose their major donors to the state Attorney General’s office. The Court found that it burdened donors’ First Amendment rights and wasn’t narrowly tailored to an important government interest. Proponents claimed it promoted “transparency,” but conservative, religious, and pro-life charities suspected that the information would quickly be leaked, and then leftist thugs like Antifa would use it to dox and threaten their donors, intimidating them into cutting off those groups’ funding.
Not all of the Court's recent decisions went the way I’d like, but at least enough did to keep hope alive that the courts do offer a viable path to block the left’s massive power grabs. Or at least hold them at bay until the 2022 election, when I hope and pray the voters will remove the people who are drunk on power from behind the wheel.
*****
Sidney Powell Reveals How President Trump Could Be Reinstated
We haven't heard much out of attorney Sidney Powell since Biden was inaugurated in January.I think that a lot of it has to do with her cases being dismissed by the Supreme Court without them even giving her the time of day.
I don't have anything bad to say about Sidney Powell, but I do feel like we were led on by her and her rhetoric.
When she said that there was going to be a Kraken released, I expected there to be a Kraken released, but I never saw anything that I would consider to be so huge that it would deserve the designation of a Kraken.
I know that she knows more about the shady things that happened with the election than we do, and I don't believe that she's lied about anything, I just wish she wouldn't have gotten our hopes up so high.
Regardless, she recently discussed with Brannon House the potentiality of President Trump being reinstated and how that would take place.
“I think it’s certainly important for people to understand what happened here, and the more information we can get about that the better” Powell told Brannon House, host of Lindell TV. “It’s particularly important for our state legislators to understand it because they have the power to recall the electors for fraud,” she said.
Powell explained, “Fraud officiates or disposes of everything—undoes everything that wrongfully happens as a result of that fraud.” The former federal prosecutor appears to be suggesting that the state legislators have the power to undo the election that sent Joe Biden to the White House.
“For God & Country Patriot Roundup” conference in Dallas, Powell discussed what would happen if forensic audits like the one in Maricopa County, AZ prove massive voter frÉ‘ud stole the election from Donald J. Trump and unfairly gave the win to Joe Biden? “He can simply be reinstated,” Powell told the audience.
I'm not going to get anyone's hopes up, I don't think President Trump will be reinstated. I think that even if fraud is proven, it's going to take far too long for anything to actually be done about it and that it would just be better for him to wait it out and run in 2024 to secure 4 full years.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)
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I think that a lot of it has to do with her cases being dismissed by the Supreme Court without them even giving her the time of day.
I don't have anything bad to say about Sidney Powell, but I do feel like we were led on by her and her rhetoric.
When she said that there was going to be a Kraken released, I expected there to be a Kraken released, but I never saw anything that I would consider to be so huge that it would deserve the designation of a Kraken.
I know that she knows more about the shady things that happened with the election than we do, and I don't believe that she's lied about anything, I just wish she wouldn't have gotten our hopes up so high.
Regardless, she recently discussed with Brannon House the potentiality of President Trump being reinstated and how that would take place.
“I think it’s certainly important for people to understand what happened here, and the more information we can get about that the better” Powell told Brannon House, host of Lindell TV. “It’s particularly important for our state legislators to understand it because they have the power to recall the electors for fraud,” she said.
Powell explained, “Fraud officiates or disposes of everything—undoes everything that wrongfully happens as a result of that fraud.” The former federal prosecutor appears to be suggesting that the state legislators have the power to undo the election that sent Joe Biden to the White House.
“For God & Country Patriot Roundup” conference in Dallas, Powell discussed what would happen if forensic audits like the one in Maricopa County, AZ prove massive voter frÉ‘ud stole the election from Donald J. Trump and unfairly gave the win to Joe Biden? “He can simply be reinstated,” Powell told the audience.
I'm not going to get anyone's hopes up, I don't think President Trump will be reinstated. I think that even if fraud is proven, it's going to take far too long for anything to actually be done about it and that it would just be better for him to wait it out and run in 2024 to secure 4 full years.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)
THE PATRIOT
Knowledge Is Power And Information is Liberating: The FRIENDS OF LIBERTY BLOG GROUPS are non-profit blogs dedicated to bringing as much truth as possible to the readers.
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Knowledge Is Power - Information Is Liberating: The Patriot Welcome is a non-profit blog dedicated to bringing as much truth as possible to the readers.
Big Tech has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share with your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you
Keep on seeking the truth, rally your friends and family and expose as much corruption as you can… every little bit helps add pressure on the powers that are no more.
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