Wall Street Journal Calls on a Johns Hopkins Neurosurgeon Ben Carson for Economic Policy Advice

Let’s Hope He is a Better Doctor Than an Economist

Apparently it is getting harder and harder to find real economists who support the crackpot ideas of the Conservatives that control the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal.  So the gentle minds that are in control there have called upon one of the finest minds at Johns Hopkins, Ben Carson, for advice on economic policy.  The only problem, Dr. Carson is  renown surgeon, and an ignoramus as an economic policy expert.

Here is Dr. Carson on tax policy.

 "What we need to do is come up with something simple. And when I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe, God, and he's given us a system. It's called a tithe.

"We don't necessarily have to do 10% but it's the principle. He didn't say if your crops fail, don't give me any tithe or if you have a bumper crop, give me triple tithe. So there must be something inherently fair about proportionality. You make $10 billion, you put in a billion. You make $10 you put in one. Of course you've got to get rid of the loopholes.

Wow, who knew it was that simple, and that the Bible (Old Testament or New Testament, your choice) could replace the IRS Code, Rules, Regulations, Tax Court and everything else.

And yes, health care can be solved just as easily.

When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed—pretax—from the time you're born 'til the time you die. If you die, you can pass it on to your family members, and there's nobody talking about death panels. We can make contributions for people who are indigent. Instead of sending all this money to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care. And very quickly they're gong to learn how to be responsible."

Gosh, the only problem here is that HAS’s are not mentioned in the Bible, so that can’t be right.  As for sending the money to 'some bureaucracy' well hey Dr. Carson, with his like high six figure salary, that the money coming to you so you can live in luxury and pontificate about something you know nothing about.

Here’s a deal Dr. Carson.  You stick to neurosurgery, let the non-ideologues like the rest of us do economic policy.  Really, if you do so we promise to limit our neurosurgery to weekends.