Radio’s continued financial success depends on a strong economy. The logic that somehow the government can fix the economy is flawed thinking; government cannot create wealth. Certainly, government can create jobs—repairing roads, building bridges, adding a bloated government program or ten—but these jobs do not create wealth. Only the private sector produces a Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, and people like them create millions of jobs (and make others wealthy, as well).
Now, in order to stimulate the economy, the government is planning on sending another round of rebates to taxpayers. Well, pardon me, but wouldn’t it be better to pass tax cuts and allow wage earners to keep what is theirs in the first place? The idea that a third party should take a large chunk of your earnings only to return a portion of it is typical of government thinking.
With the economy temporarily in turmoil, families are looking at their budgets and cutting back on expenses. These reductions will be felt by advertisers, who will also cut back. It will be felt by your stations, who will also reduce expenditures. Will government likewise “cut back”? No way. Instead, we’re hearing plans for more expansion: universal health care, another trillion dollars in bailouts, and more.
Government efficiency is an oxymoron. The best way to resolve our current economic crisis is to get government out of the way; cut taxes—especially capital gains—and slash government spending. Yes, the pain will intensify in the short term, but it will be short, followed by a strongly resurgent economy. Unfortunately, the road government is now planning to travel may minimize the intensity of the pain slightly, but will prolong it for years to come.