But why the silence from McCain, Romney, and Giuliani on all the good news? Despite the headwinds of war and recession six years ago, the Reagan-Bush tax-cut model has again spurred a long-lasting, job-creating economic expansion. Even Bill Richardson, the Democratic governor of New Mexico who is a card-carrying member of the nearly extinct tax-cutting school launched by JFK, has been silent on all this.
If these presidential contenders truly believe in the tax-cutting model, they should be saying so. The positives are simply too positive to go unspoken. U.S. employment is now a record 146 million, and 9.5 million higher since the expansion started in December 2001, according to Bear Stearns economist David Malpass. The Federal Reserve reports a record $55.6 trillion in household net worth (up 7.4 percent from a year ago) and a record $1.7 trillion in corporate profits (up 20 percent). All this should be shouted from the mountaintops.
And then there’s the just-released Forbes list of worldwide billionaires. This list registered a staggering $3.5 trillion in wealth and a record 946 members, up 150 from last year for a 35 percent gain. Almost half the list is comprised of Americans, with significant representation from emerging countries like China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Russia, and Spain.
“This is the richest year in human history,” said editor-and-chief Steve Forbes. The list “is a mere reflection of a dynamic global economy. More people are better off on this earth than ever before.”
What’s going on here is plain to see: It’s the global spread of free-market capitalism. The American model of “cowboy capitalism” -- of low tax rates, deregulation, contained inflation, and free trade -- is producing unheard of wealth that is turning the have-nots into haves.
Many years ago British diplomat and political philosopher Isaiah Berlin taught us that while the fox knows many small things, the hedgehog knows one big thing -- and that it’s the one big thing that always wins the race. Today, the successful worldwide spread of free-market capitalism is the one big idea that puts me solidly in the hedgehog camp. But are there any hedgehogs running for president?