Lies, Damned Lies & the Inflation Reduction Act

Whenever you encounter a claim by a politician that they are going to “create jobs” or “reduce inflation,” you should be very suspicious.Most Americans are aware that recent price increases are connected with new government spending, although fewer want to face the music that the solution is cutting said spending – not cutting new checks and subsidies to temporarily relieve some pain for some citizens.Thomas DiLorenzo, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Economics, is not afraid to speak the truth and name names. His assessment of the poorly-named “Inflation Reduction Act” is grim, but we must face economic reality before we can improve it.While politicians are certainly to blame for the Orwellian naming of bills that accomplish the opposite of what their name suggests, DiLorenzo makes an underappreciated point about the average economist’s complicity in such shenanigans. The economics profession, he writes, “has been turned into the handmaiden of government in order to give a scientistic justification for things the government … wants to do.”DiLorenzo – a senior faculty member at the Mises Institute – joined me last Sunday to expose what’s actually in the Inflation Reduction Act, and why it is virtually certain to increase inflation – especially energy costs – as well as production costs of most things we buy.We also discussed the enduring appeal of socialism among young people, and how DiLorenzo has disabused his students of their misguided ideas over the years through teaching sound economics.Listen to the podcast or subscribe to read the condensed summary of DiLorenzo’s “politically incorrect guide to economics.”