the property owner has stated that he will not invest more money into his properties as long as they can’t be developed. The owner has no incentive to develop, or even keep up, his property. Rather than working hard to create an enterprise that would benefit everyone through voluntary transactions, the owner may try to sell his property or simply allow it to fall into disrepair. This will deter others from owning property in the area, further exacerbating the problem.

The reality is that President Obama, like President Bush before him, has rather dramatically raised government spending and therefore has raised your taxes. To say otherwise is like saying you got your new swimming pool for free because you put it on your credit card

It’s not easy to destroy incentives to hire in the largest economy in America. But Mr. Obama’s advisers are mastering the art. You can thank them the next time you wonder why it is hard to find a job in the private sector.

One of the themes in my forthcoming book is that there are huge vested interests trying to prevent good news reaching the public. That is to say, in the ruthless free-market struggle that goes on between pressure groups for media attention and funds, nobody likes to have it said that `their’ problem is not urgent and getting worse. The lengths that acid rain alarmists in the EPA went to to prevent the result of the NAPAP study reaching Congress before crucial votes in the early 1990s is well documented, and this was when this phenomenon first dawned on me. But now I see it everywhere.

But I hope you see the evidence is pretty substantial that strategic defaults are indeed goosing retail sales.