Government Waste Stifling Growth Worldwide | Cato Institute

Government Waste Stifling Growth Worldwide | Cato Institute: "In America, and now in most of the rest of world, people naturally assume that they are going to live better than their parents; but until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution less than 250 years ago, this was not true for most of mankind. The only way one could expect to get richer was if someone else got poorer — and so deep was that mindset we still see the remnants in those who have socialist leanings today. It was not until the later part of the 19th century that the average European city dweller lived better than those who lived in Rome 1800 years earlier. It has only been a few decades since much of Asia has enjoyed sustained real economic growth, and less than two decades since much of Africa has been on a growth path. So, looking into the reasons for the current slowdown in economic growth is much more than an academic curiosity, because slower growth means more people with inadequate food and shelter and with lack of real opportunity."