The Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore Writes About the Education of House Speaker John Boehner

The Conclusion Here  - Mr. Boehner Gets an F minus in Economics

The establishment Republicans are out to rehabilitate the reputation of House Republican Speaker John Boehner.  One suspects that the establishment fears that if Mr. Boehner is replaced by someone who will gleefully shut down the Federal government Republicans will suffer even more in the public opinion polls than they already do. 

So the Journal’s top conservative interviewer, Stephen Moore writes about talking with Mr. Boehner.  The title of the piece

·                                 OPINION

·                                 January 6, 2013, 6:21 p.m. ET

The Education of John Boehner

Leverage for the next clash: GOP willingness to let the spending sequester take effect.

So let’s see what type of education John Boehner has.  Here is his take on investment, the critical thing needed for an economy to grow.

The driving passion for Mr. Boehner in these fiscal debates is his conviction that trillion-dollar deficits are sapping the country of its energy and prosperity. When I ask him when the impact of this debt will start to be felt, he says: "It's already here today. It's killing our economy. It's causing investors to sit on their cash. They're afraid to invest. It's a wet blanket on top of our economy."

Wow, business is not investing because of the size of the Federal deficit.  Really Mr. Boehner?  There is of course no basis for this statement in either fact, research, empirical observations or economic theory.  Even in economic texts written by conservatives one doesn’t find this foolishness.  This concept is simply the fruit of an ideologically driven simple minded (at least in terms of economics) politician with no training in economics and no experience in business.  One imagines in Mr. Boehner’s world something like this happens.

                        Company Head of Manufacturing:  Boss, there is tremendous demand for our products, and we need to expand our factories to keep up with it.

                        CEO:  You are right, but the Federal deficit is so high I am afraid to invest.  Let’s just leave our cash in a zero interest earning account.

When future historians get around to listing the problems with American economic policy, ignorance will be at the top of the list.  And John Boehner will be Exhibit 1.