sowell - barack obama fallacy of redistribution

Those who talk glibly about redistribution often act as if people are just inert objects that can be placed here and there, like pieces on a chess board, to carry out some grand design.


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But if human beings have their own responses to government policies, then we cannot blithely assume that government policies will have the effect intended
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You can only confiscate the wealth that exists at a given moment. You cannot confiscate future wealth — and that future wealth is less likely to be produced when people see that it is going to be confiscated

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Barack Obama can endlessly proclaim his slogan of "Forward," but what he is proposing is going backwards to policies that have failed repeatedly in countries around the world. Yet, to many people who cannot be bothered to stop and think, redistribution sounds good


http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/091912-626275-obama-redistribution-fallacy-has-grave-consequences.htm?p=full