By LAWRENCE KUDLOW,Investors Business Daily
There’s no question that current government policies for taxes,spending and regulation are causing the U.S. to lose competitiveness in the global race for capital,prosperity and growth.
Of course,China has been moving in the direction of free-market capitalism for years. To some extent,this shows the positive benefits of America’s free-trade policies and its open-mindedness in helping nurture not only China growth,but also middle-class prosperity worldwide.
But what’s particularly galling about Obamanomics is that we may well be losing our competitive edge with Europe. While Europe is ever so slightly moving toward Reagan and Thatcher,the U.S. is shifting toward an overtaxed and overregulated model that smacks of Francois Mitterrand. That’s something no one should want to tolerate.
Heavy government controls at home,along with an income-leveling social policy couched in economic-recovery terms,is no way to run a railroad.
At the simple stroke of a computer key,world investment flows to its most hospitable destination. That includes a reliable currency. But in President Bush’s last year and President Obama’s first,the U.S. has become a less-hospitable destination for global capital. That should worry everybody.