{"product_id":"uncle-sam-cant-count-a-history-of-failed-government-investments-from-beaver-pelts-to-green-energy-isbn-9780062292698","title":"Uncle Sam Can't Count: A History of Failed Government Investments, from Beaver Pelts to Green Energy","description":"\u003cp\u003eDrawing on examples from the nation's past and present—the fur trade to railroads, cars and chemicals, aviation to Solyndra—\u003cem\u003eUncle Sam Can't Count\u003c\/em\u003e a sweeping work of conservative economic history that explains why the federal government cannot and should not pick winners and losers in the private sector, including the Obama administration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the days of George Washington through World War II to today, government subsidies have failed dismally argue Burt and Anita Folsom. Draining the Treasury of cash, they impede economic growth, and hurt the very companies receiving aid.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy does federal aid seem to have a reverse Midas touch? As the Folsoms reveal, federal officials don't have the same abilities or incentives as entrepreneurs. In addition, federal control always equals political control of some kind. What is best for politicians is not often what works in the marketplace. Politicians want to win votes, and they can do so by giving targeted CEOs benefits while dispersing costs to others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFilled with examples of government failures and free market triumphs, from John Jacob Astor to the Wright Brothers, World War II amphibious landing craft to Detroit, \u003cem\u003eUncle Sam Can't Count\u003c\/em\u003e is a hard-hitting critique of government investment that demonstrates why business should be left exclusively to private entrepreneurs.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eIn their fascinating history of government misadventure, Burton and Anita Folsom show why the Obama administration's urge to pick winners and losers in the private sector is doomed to fail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the days of George Washington through World War II to today, government investments have failed dismally. They not only drain the Treasury of cash but also impede economic growth, and they hurt the very companies they try to support.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy does federal aid seem to have a reverse Midas touch? Simply put, federal officials don't have the same abilities or incentives as entrepreneurs. In addition, federal control always produces political control of some kind. What is best for politicians is not often what works in the marketplace. Politicians want to win votes, and they can do so by giving targeted CEOs benefits while dispersing costs to others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUncle Sam Can't Count\u003c\/em\u003e is filled with examples of government failures and free market triumphs, including\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e  John Jacob Astor, who owned a fur company that defeated a government-funded rival—supported by George Washington himself—by actively cooperating in trade with the Native Americans instead of trying to tell them what they wanted.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e  The Wright brothers, who, with two thousand dollars of their own money, successfully flew the first manned flight, while the government threw money at Samuel Langley, whose two failed attempts at flight both landed in the Potomac River.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e  George Mitchell, who spent seventeen years developing fracking, after the high taxes on oil drilling were repealed, while the government subsidized ethanol.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUncle Sam Can't Count\u003c\/em\u003e is a hard-hitting critique of a government completely incapable of either picking winners or learning from its many mistakes, which demonstrates why business should be left to private entrepreneurs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadside Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888202903781,"sku":"NP9780062292698","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062292698.jpg?v=1730228396","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/uncle-sam-cant-count-a-history-of-failed-government-investments-from-beaver-pelts-to-green-energy-isbn-9780062292698","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}