Within a National Review article that takes Paul Krugman to task for attacks on the Chicago School of economics, Richard Epstein offers the following valuable observation:
[T]he recent increase in the minimum wage is particularly deadly in the face of falling real wages, especially to workers with few advanced skills. More important, ? the hare-brained scheme of labor regulation embodied in the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is a first-class job killer: Who wants to open a business in which a union created by dubious card-check procedures can force the acceptance of a two-year contract dictated by Obama?s Department of Labor? The EFCA is dormant for the moment, but for so long as organized labor has clout at the White House, dormant ain?t dead. As if that weren?t bad enough, the prospect of a crudely nationalized health-care system, coupled with the nightmare of a Byzantine cap-and-trade program, will put lots of sensible investments on hold and lots of jobs on ice. Investors want to know what kind of economy they are investing in.
What would spur additional investments? Epstein points to the following Chicago School ideas: reduced government interference in competitive markets, strong property and contract rights, investment in ?sensible? public infrastructure such as law enforcement, a ?decent? anti-monopoly policy, a stable currency, and ?low, flat? taxes.
On that last point, you might remember what Epstein said about John Locke and flat taxes in a 2007 Carolina Journal Radio interview. If not, click play below.
