Friday, November 22, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, November 13, 2020
Federal aid is not the cure
By Grassroot Institute @ 3:09 PM :: 2871 Views :: Economy, COVID-19

Federal aid is not the cure

From Grassroot Institute, November 12, 2020

It all depends on what you mean by 'help'

The headline in Monday's Honolulu Star-Advertiser was encouraging, so far as it went: "Kai Kahele and Ed Case vow to work together to help Hawaii in U.S. Congress."

But what did the writer mean by saying "help Hawaii"? The lead sentence of the news article fleshed it out more: "U.S. Congressman Ed Case and Congressman-Elect Kai Kahele on Monday morning vowed to work together to help Hawaii receive the federal funding it critically needs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic."

So "helping Hawaii" in this context means rustling up more money at the federal level to bail out Hawaii's politicians at the local level, who have been doing little during our prolonged coronavirus lockdowns to trim the state's extravagant spending, despite the collapse of the state's private sector and evaporation of its tax stream.

Undoubtedly such "helicopter money" could provide short-term relief for some — when it's not being squandered on pet projects that help virtually no one. But in the long run it will only prolong the agony of our damaging and constitutionally suspect public health restrictions locally, while creating massive debt and fueling inflation at the federal level, hastening the day when it will cost hundreds of dollars to buy a candy bar or pair of socks.

Perhaps Case would do better to encourage Kahele to support his Jones Act reform efforts. As Case well knows, the protectionist federal maritime law costs Hawaii an estimated $1.2 billion a year, including about $1,800 per family and 9,100 lost jobs. He could remind Kahele that Jones Act reform was once supported by all of Hawaii's leading Democrats, including the iconic U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye. Case and Kahele working together to reform the Jones Act would be an excellent and actually effective way to "help Hawaii."

'In reality, the economy is each of us making independent choices that benefit our lives'

Influential policy innovator Connor Boyack of Utah shares his ideas with Keli'i Akina about what Hawaii needs to recover and even thrive

If the goal of Hawaii lawmakers is to diversify the state's economy, they should avoid trying to achieve it via government programs, says Connor Boyack, who was interviewed Monday on Keli'i Akina's  "Hawaii Together" program on the ThinkTech Hawaii network.

Boyack is president of the Libertas Institute in Utah, where he was recently named one of the most politically influential people in the state by the Salt Lake Tribune. He also has written 20 books, the best known of which feature the “Tuttle Twins,” written, he said, to "help children understand adult ideas."

The children's series, he said, is about "the way the world works, so we do get into economics and politics and social issues, like the golden rule. Our goal is to help kids understand these big ideas about what makes a thriving, healthy, functioning society, and this is content that is not typically taught in textbooks or by teachers."

Boyack said that "when asked about what the age range is for our books, I always say it's 5 to 11, and then members of Congress."

As for diversifying Hawaii's economy, Boyack urged that Hawaii avoid relying on the government to pick winners and losers.

"Central planning rarely works," he said. "Typically, when economies are centrally planned, there are a lot of unintended consequences that people who are well-intentioned sitting in a conference room cannot anticipate. It's very important to actually facilitate the decentralized approach, where innovators and entrepreneurs … don't have those barriers to entry, [and] they can go experiment and try things out and are empowered to go solve the problem, rather than people coming up with a plan and … saying what it should be."

Hear more of this terrific interview by clicking >>> BOYACK INTERVIEW <<<

 

 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii