Sunday, November 14, 2010

Debate: Is Big Government Stifling the American Spirit?

While surfing the televison channels a couple of weeks ago I found these very interesting debates on Bloomberg called Intelligence Squared Debates.  This weeek I watched a very interesting debate where the question being raised was:  Is government intervention in everything from economic policy to health care rewarding the “takers,” and not the “makers,” stifling innovators, entrepreneurs and business owners? Or has government done too little to support the growing poor and rapidly shrinking middle class? The motion being set forth stated that big government is stifling the American spirit.

Phil Gramm and Arthur Laffer supported the motion which stated that Big Government is stifling the American spirit while Nouriel Roubini and Laura Tyson were against the motion.  The debate is about 1 hour and 45 minutes but well worth your watching it.  I suggest that you grab a snack and a beverage, sit back, and enjoy watching a most interesting debate.   

Here is the debate:



BIG GOVERNMENT IS STIFLING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT (IQ2US.ORG) from Intelligence Squared US on Vimeo.

7 comments:

Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

Teresa, I am going to have to watch it later due to time, but I can easily answer the question beforehand; YES, big government is indeed stifling the American spirit.

John Carey said...

Teresa I'll watch this later, but the answer in my opinion is absolutely the government is hindering growth and destroying the American dream. You can regulate the free market system to the point where it can't correct itself.

WomanHonorThyself said...

o yes big govt is so demoralizing Teres..ack! Hope ya had a fabulous weekend my friend~!

Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

Well I was right after all! Laffer is the best in Econ 101!

Chris W said...

The answer is easy, a resounding yes.

Teresa said...

Thanks for watching Chris!! I really hadn't seen or heard much from Laffer so I don't know much about him. My husband says that Phil Gramm is more knowledgeable on the issues than he remembers from when Gramm was serving in Congress. They were both great!

Anonymous said...

Propaganda disguised as journalism and debate. Merely conditioning the public for austerity. Brought to you by WS.
I didn't buy the phony format for a minute.
I did like Roubini's comment about privatizing profit and socializing loss which seems to allude America's collective memory.