In Marxist theory, the Communist Party represented the interests of productive workers, the value of whose labor is expropriated by others. That was wrong, but at least it had a certain coherence. Greek Communists (and more generally, 21st century socialists) stand for something quite different: the “right” to be supported by the labor of others (in the Greek case, Germans); the “right” to be a sponge, forever; the “right” to be an exploiter. It would be hard to think of a less attractive political program.

One wonders why the bond traders are not already punishing us. It isn’t hard math to see the difficulty that faces us with the deficits we are running. I have to think it’s because there aren’t a lot of good options. In other words, so long as we can maintain our status as ‘tallest pygmy’, we can get away with this. If we have inflation, but the Eurozone has it worse as a result of bailing out its ailing members, then maybe we can get away with it.

The 1970s were the turning point in modern history. Statism was exposed as a flawed economic system. The more idealistic countries like Denmark and New Zealand reformed most rapidly when new information showed that markets worked better than government.

From now on, I will cease calling the Fed incompetent, and begin using the more accurate phrase “innumerate.”

Even so, the fundamental fact remains that no country can provide more in sickness care than its economic production permits. Ultimately, the status of healthcare depends on the level of wealth, not on schemes of one kind or another.

An ever-growing diversion of real wealth toward government nonproductive programs runs the risk of further weakening the ability of the United States to generate real wealth. This in turn increases the risk of the US government not being able to service its debt. Remember, the government is not a wealth generator — it is completely at the mercy of the wealth generators in the private sector. This, of course, means that the US government must drastically cut its expenditures to prevent a serious economic disaster.