Three libertarian ideas that would jumpstart the economy
The United States needs big long-term fixes to our economic system.
We’re too dependent on government spending, not entrepreneurial enough, and our education and healthcare systems are 2nd rate.
We also need to rethink trade policies that essentially encourage the outsourcing of jobs to countries that compete not through innovation and hard work but through medieval labor and environmental policies.
But in the short term we also need some quick nudges that will shift our economy out of the low gear we’ve been stuck in since early in 2009.
Here are three libertarian ideas — they don’t require huge infusions of government cash or equally unaffordable deep tax cuts — that would spark a new bout of private sector spending.
1. Legalize and tax marijuana. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, the US spends $40 billion a year trying to stop the flow of drugs into our country. A lot of that taxpayer money is wasted on marijuana, a recreational drug with harmful effects that are no worse than cigarettes and alcohol. The policy is an abject failure. By criminalizing pot, we’ve created an underground economy far more destructive than the rumrunner days of Prohibition.
By legalizing and taxing marijuana, we’ll empty our prisons of non-violent offenders, generate billions of dollars in new revenue for social programs, and shift massive profits from drug dealers to legitimate farmers.
2. Open free trade with Cuba. Yes, Cuba’s regime is oppressive and repressive, but it is a far freer nation by almost any measure than China. By opening trade with that nation, we would foster a boom in investment, trade and development, while bringing many of the companies that now do business in Asia home to an island a few dozen miles off the US coast. Cuba has made some serious steps toward developing a market economy of late.
For our own good, we should follow suit by ending the trade embargo.
3. Give green cards to all illegal or undocumented people working in the U.S. Yes, we need a serious debate about what to do with the roughly 11 million people living illegally in the US. But in the meantime, we need those workers out in the open, where they can participate fully in the economy. People living in the shadows make lousy consumers. They tend to foster black market and criminal economies, rather than the vibrant retail and entrepreneurial activity that we need. This would also eliminate the fear and uncertainty faced by many employers who desperately need these workers.
So while we figure out how to secure our borders, offer everyone here illegally a 5-year green card, good for as long as the worker is employed and crime-free.
All of these ideas make sense for other policy reasons. They are better from a crime-fighting, a civil liberties, a workers’ rights, and a foreign policy perspective.
But they would also kick-start jobs and investment at a time when we need both desperately.
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Brian,
I agree with everything you mentioned. One caveat regarding marijuana, I would argue it is far more beneficial than alcohol and tobacco. In terms of medicinal benefits alone, it not only relieves pain, improves mood in some cases, increases appetite, controls fluid pressure in eyes (glaucoma), helps control hyperhidrosis (uncontrollable sweating), can induce sleep, but also has shown promise as a cancer fighter. In the past two years or so, evidence in a few studies have shown that Cannabinoids, which are basically degraded THC cells,and exists alongside still potent THC, can be helpful in halting the growth of cancer tumors. Interestingly enough, in lung cancer patients. And by the way, it’s typically these Cannabinoids that cause appetite stimulation, calmess, pain relief, etc…
While marijuana can certainly be abused and lead to harmful side effects, I think it’s important that any debate about marijuana policy should include the most recent studies that indicate we are only just beginning to understand the health benefits of moderate, controlled use.
I would mention a second caveat regarding marijuana. Don’t get carried away on the tax as has been done with tobacco. Otherwise, you would still wind up with a black market as has become the case with cigarettes.
Greed is the many problem the government has. It loves to kill the golden goose.
My vote is for smaller government. Let’s start by eliminating the ATF and the DEA.
Many up this way would suggest the state should eliminate the APA but the Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board, who often criticizes it, has recently stated it is not in favor of getting rid of the APA. Go figure.
It seems everyone wants lower taxes but doesn’t want to get rid of any of thousands and thousands of levels of bureaucracy.
Add the power of federal, state, county and town employee unions and bargaining units to the mix and the result is inevitable. High and higher taxes.
I really think opening up trade with Cuba is a great idea.
On the green card issue I could go for that as long as the worker could prove current employment and be sponsored by their current employer. In addition it should be combined with a true effort to stop the drug cartels from human trafficking on the border to really get control of that lawless area. Illegal immigration is now a human rights issue and we cannot be complicit in that business.
The problem with legalization and normalization of marijuana use on a large scale basis is that the US is already a drug addled addicted society, we already lose billions and billions in productivity and education losses from people not living their potential due to alcohol and other drugs. Look at how the abuse of pain narcotics are sweeping the nation which coincided with the opening of their legal use for pain. Maybe if we were a different culture, but come on do we really need one more easy way to get high in this country?
I just think we should balance the negative impacts of massively increased use of pot against the positive benefits. I know many people smoke pot now I am not naive, but from what I have read use would increase big time if it were legalized.
And in regard to Cuba. The “thawing” of relations with our Caribbean neighbor is long overdue. I’m not sure the impact of a new, sane trade agreement with such a small partner would affect our economy all that much, but I agree with you in that it’s time has come. If we can move this issue beyond the small, vocal Cuban expatriate crowd which has sabotaged it for decades, it could have a chance of happening.
Mervel,
You have a point about marijuana abuse. That point being that some users abuse it. Do you know any alcoholics, gambling addicts, people addicted to nicotine? Of course you do, but that doesn’t mean everyone fits that category. And do you really think the interdiction efforts are doing anything to stop this abuse? I think you’d agree it’s not. Look around, interdiction efforts are just a waste of tax dollars, profit special interests, create extremely violent and powerful cartels, and and don’t deal with, for a small minority of users, what is really a heath problem.
Unfortunately, what gets lost whenever discussion of marijuana reform ensues, is the fact that the vast majority of users are NOT abusers..You and Bret seem to have this in common, you go to the extreme as if that’s the norm. It’s simply not the case.
And if you think the rate of marijuana use has really increased due to the easing of penalties associated with it, you’re extremely naive. I would argue that what’s really happening is that people are more willing to admit they use it, as for some, there’s no longer a penalty associated with admitting it in a poll or questionnaire (which are the sources of the disinformation campaign the foes of decriminalization/reform utilize). Simply put, the stigma certain interests have propagated no longer applies and people all over the country, and the world for that matter, are just more open about using marijuana.
I’m not sure that marijuana has all the benefits some claim. Maybe it does or maybe that impression is the result of fuzzy thinking while high or maybe it’s just an excuse to use it. OTOH I know that trying to stop it is a losing battle. How long do we keep banging our heads on that wall before it sinks in? Sometimes, like with alcohol, controlling it is more effective in the long run than trying to stomp it out. I think the same applies to prostitution.
Trade with Cuba? Absolutely. We have been two faced hypocrites on that for far too long. At the same time we were saying no to Cuba because we wouldn’t trade with a repressive communist regime we traded with China (a repressive communist regime) on the rational that by doing so we would mitigate the repression and over time open up them up to democratic reform.
Illegal immigrants? Give them work permits, tax them like everyone else and as long as they are working (with reasonable breaks between jobs) and behaving in a civil way, let them stay.
I vote “yes” to all three. In each case it means more money going into the government and less going out with at least no worse results than we are now getting, maybe even better results.
“I know many people smoke pot now I am not naive, but from what I have read use would increase big time if it were legalized.”
What do you think the foes of reform want you to believe, that marijuana use will decrease? Come on now Mervel, you’re smarter than that. Could it be that the majority of the population are moderate users of alcohol, tobacco, pain killers (to use your earlier example) AND/OR marijuana? Can these same people still function very well and be very successful in their job or career? Is it possible for an individual to be an otherwise law abiding citizen who pays his/her taxes, works hard to support his family, gives to charity, puts his kids through college, volunteers on a few community boards, is physically fit, and yet still wish to use marijuana recreational? Of course they can…….These things are not mutually exclusive.
Clapton,
For me the issue is not that I want to demonize users, we have large amounts of recreational users in the US right now, and I realize that. I just think that there are societal impacts of long term drug use. I know pot is not that bad, but there are also studies that show long term use of pot has some pretty negative cognitive impacts. (I realize alcohol is just as bad if not worse).
I guess I would be looking for a middle ground on this one. If it is fully legalized then you will have many more people using pot than right now, it will be marketed, branded and sold for expansion of market share. Is that really what this country needs right now? Most experts that I have seen including most pro-legalization people do agree that use of pot will increase with legalization we argue about how much.
The costs of more drug use in the US should be balanced against the benefits of legalization is all I am saying. I don’t think pot is some sort of massive gateway drug. However if you fully legalize pot you are then going to have to look at cocaine, where does it end? I think the libertarian answer is that adults should have access to any drug they want and they all should be full legal. I think there is a case there, I just think that it would have devastating consequences for a country that has so much trouble with addiction. We are not France or Italy we don’t really do moderation very well.
Mervel,
The middle ground you propose is what I too suggest. That middle ground would be allowing adults 21 and older to possess or grow a limited amount of marijuana for personal use. And if you drive under the influence, you face punishment similar to alcohol (which has become pretty substantial). Sell to minors, just as substantial as selling alcohol to minors. None of what I propose is really all that new. We already regulate alcohol and tobacco, why is marijuana so different? It’s not impossible a feat to devise reasonable regulation.
I don’t buy the tax benefits, by the way, but more the savings side of the equation. The money we waste on interdiction, prosecution, and imprisonment totals billions per year. Instead, I suggest people are required to purchase a permit to grow their own. Like a hunting license for instance. For a hundred bucks a year you have the right to grow say a dozen plants per year.
And you mention our society’s inability to “do moderation well,” why should the behaviors of a few determine what’s right for me or anyone else? Isn’t that a glaring example of gov’t being too intrusive and too big brotherish? Since when is it governments role to protect me from myself? And I don’t for minute think someone who has abstained from marijuana use will now become a chronic abuser because it’s now legal to do so. It just doesn’t work like that. Using marijuana doesn’t make you suddenly want to become a lazy, unproductive member of society that no longer cares about anything else than just being high 24/7….Do you want to be drunk all day every day just because you can be? Of course not……
There are certainly options that are better than what we are doing now, I am certain we both agree on that! What we are doing now does not work.
I do think if you market and brand pot, make it acceptable to the broader society in stores; we would go to a point where now you have 10-15% of high school students regularly using pot to 40-60%, the same as who regularly drink. I know from an individual liberty standpoint there is problems with making drugs of any sort illegal for adults. It is a balance.
I would be in favor of only locally grown for example or no national marketing or distribution.
Proposal 1- We have a large underground pot industry now. What makes you think legalizing and taxing it will result in anything changing? It may lower the street price of the untaxed product, but that’s about it. Plus, more stoned people is a help to our already lazy, fat society how exactly? You want to stop fighting the drug war, that’s fine. But don’t for a moment think society will benefit from having even more intoxicated people roaming the streets.
Proposal 2- Cuba? Okay, so we open trading relations and the very first thing that will happen is we’ll need to pump a trillion bucks into the country to bring them up from 1930’s standards. That helps us how? Plus, you’re just enforcing the “wait them out” attitude Castro took. And that’s to say nothing of completely ignoring the murders and theft Castro and his merry band of cutthroats undertook. I feel bad for the Cuban people, but this only been fits them, not us.
Proposal 3- ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! These are criminals, not refugees. Round them up, deport them and close the border. End of story.
Instead of 3 “quick nudges that will shift our economy out of the low gear we’ve been stuck in since early in 2009”, you propose 3 costly ideas that I don’t see helping our economy at all.
Bret,
I don’t think so on Cuba. Cuba in my opinion is waiting to take off; they may be a Caribbean China. They have an educated workforce and high literacy rates. I think they could be an economic powerhouse which would greatly help our economy. They need help with infrastructure and who would help them? Not our government but our private sector.
Pot will never be legal because you can’t make money off it. You can grow pot in your back yard for free. Why would you pay someone to grow it for you? Plant the seed in May and come back in October. You can plant it right next to the tulips. As a result, pot will never be “fully” legal. Cuba is a good idea but not sure about the illegals. I think forcing welfare recipients to work on the farm is a better idea. Bus them to a location for the summer and maybe they will move where the jobs are instead of complaining that there are no jobs. This is exactly what illegals do now. They work “somewhere” and send money back to their family. Once they have enough, they move the family in. American’s have to get out their comfort zone.
TurdSandwich,
(I love your tying that)
But what about sane marijuana policy just for the savings side of the issue? Again, I agree with what seems to be a consensus that there’s isn’t necessarily tons of money to be made off of taxing cannibus. As you said, you can teach any home gardener how to grow pot in their garden. Many, many people do exactly that here in the North Country. Given this, why are we continuing to spend billions per year trying to stop a behavior that is clearly not going to change? We’re just wasting our already limited resources.
Mervel, what if Cuba is the “Caribbean China”? What does that mean? No EPA, no Cap and Tax, no unions, no regulations to inhibit growth. So we can get cheap, shoddy merchandise made by sweat shop slaves 90 miles off our coast instead of 5000 miles off our coast. Cool, I see the advantage.
TS- For once we agree.
BTW- if Cuba is such a potential powerhouse, why is Haiti and the Dominican Republic not flourishing? Why is Jamaica a poverty stricken island outside of the resorts? Why is Mexico not a manufacturing giant?????
This goes against common sense guys.
Pot is used by law enforcement to find “harder” drugs. You can smell it and it comes in larger sizes. I agree we could save money, but that is not enough for some people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for legalization. Lets not kid ourselves into thinking this will be a new thriving business model.
I think we just lost our common ground. Mexico would be much better off without our free trade agreement with China. NAFTA was never given a chance. Yes I would rather have a few million latin americans working in sweat shops than a billion chinese communists doing the same work. I think you’d see less illegal immigration, less border violence and maybe a better standard of living in latin America.
Here’s some links to studies regarding marijuana and fighting cancer:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071226004546.htm
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/100/1/59.abstract
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/68/2/339.full.pdf+html?sid=2a270674-95ed-438d-89d7-ba9b5454b654
Turd: Pot will never be legal because you can’t make money off it?
I brew beer and make wine, yet someone still makes money producing it. You can grow tobacco in your yard, but companies still profit from production.
I don’t think so turd.
I can make a pretty good bottle of wine and I can make beer, my beer is not quite as good. I can also have my own chickens and eggs. Yet most people don’t do that, most people would just go down to Stewarts and pick up a 12 pack or with legal pot pick up a pack of blunts. They would likely be flavored and marketed to different segments of the population; you would see the large corporations take over the mass production and marketing of pot. There is HUGE money to be made in marketing pot. Look at the huge profits in the pharmaceutical dope business now, basically we are selling heroin like products to people for headaches and there is a huge demand for it.
So for the same reason that people don’t make their own wine or beer they won’t grow their own pot if it is offered at the local stores in nice pretty packages.
Your comparison is a bit of a stretch but I see your point. It all depends on the amount of aggravation you’re willing to endure. A better comparison would be growing your own vegetables which people do in limited amounts. You won’t get through the whole year but you will save some cash.
Yes I know what your saying and that is what I would favor that would not bother me; locally grown, self grown that is fine as far as I would be concerned.
I just have this vision of mass marketing, product differentiation, big advertising and so forth, super bowl adds instead of bud you would have BC Bud. Maybe you would have some pot marketed for rural kids then you would market other pot styles for urban markets. You would probably see characters like Joe Camel that would appeal to the younger set, maybe throw in some flavors. Then you would probably have a XXX market for pot that was particularly potent with high THC levels, much like high alcohol content beer etc. Full legalization would be a big big industry and a really big deal. Likely the companies that already have national distribution chains set up would dominate I am not sure if it would be the beer/alcohol bunch or the nicotine bunch, my bet is that given the declining market share of tobacco products and given the ability of tobacco farmers to switch to pot quite easily they would be the ones who ended up winning.
But then we would have a whole new PSA campaign by our government planners telling people to moderate or quite pot. Round and round.
You don’t have to have a free-for-all market for pot. You can regulate it like liquor, state by state, and you can have a federal ban on advertising, just like tobacco, which has seen use fall off pretty significantly in the last 50 years in the U.S.–and consequently save the U.S. health care system a lot of money. Not everything has to be marketed by giant corporations. We only let it happen because they have lots of money and we have too many people who’ve swallowed Randian Kool-Aid.
The state could actually be the only vendor–just like package stores in New Hampshire.
Turd Sandwich says “I think forcing welfare recipients to work on the farm is a better idea.” Mao would agree with you on that idea.
James, Mao (NYS) already forces welfare recipients to work periodically to “earn” their wages. I suppose its societies fault they’re unemployed? How about moving to where the jobs are instead of staying in your comfort zone. Radical idea.
Mr Bullard, forcing NY’s tax payers to support welfare recipients while getting nothing in return sounds pretty Maoist too.
Legalization of weed would definitely benefit our economy.
If you are worried about the number of weed smokers increasing with legalization let me ease your mind. First, I just graduated high school and I guarantee you more than 15% of kids smoke weed. They just don’t feel a need to write down on a piece of paper something like that. High schoolers already hide that stuff from their parents so why would they write it down on a piece of paper for their teacher to see. Legalizing weed would obviously be accompanied by a legal age to use it. When I was under 18 it was actually easier for me to get weed than it was to get tobacco or alcohol because i would just go over to a guys house and buy it. But if it has a legal age the only way to get it is from a store, buying it yourself or somebody buying it for you. And, like alcohol or tobacco their would be penalties for supplying minors with weed. I’m not sure if this would decrease the number of high schoolers using weed but it would decrease the number of high schoolers abusing it due to the fact that it wouldn’t be as easy to get.
Next, you still could make money off weed if it were legalized because not a lot of people want to grow weed. It’s a ton of work to actually grow weed with a decent THC content. Also it takes a long time for the bud to be worth smoking after you plant it and not many people would be down with that wait. I’m not sure but I think that the majority of tobacco is still grown in the US and if weed were legalized it would be quite simple for tobacco companies to start growing and selling weed as well. However I do believe that the greatest economic gain we would see is a decrease in spending. Tons of tax payer money is spent convicting and jailing people who use or sell weed illegally.
Also, a side point, there is a new synthetic and legal alternative to marijuana called K2. Recently there have been several cases in which people overdosed on this stuff and another where a kid killed himself because he thought he was in hell or something. So if weed were legalized people would most likely stop smoking that, (its not even supposed to be used as a drug, its incense. Or so says k2) which would mean no overdoses for people trying to get a legal weed high.
The only thing i dont like about this proposal is that if it became legal I would probably have to pay a ridiculously large amount of money for a very small amount of weed.