ALEC on AM 560 Chicago Radio: Our Economy is in Decline

ALEC Chief Economist and Executive Vice President of Policy Jonathan Williams joined Chicago’s AM 560 The Answer Radio Show to talk about the failures of the Biden economy. Below are highlights of their conversation:

Radio Host: The Biden administration spent the weekend trying to tout all of their accomplishments. What are your thoughts?

Jonathan Williams: We have over $30 trillion of national debt and an economy in decline right now. It has been for the last two quarters. And now the Biden administration wants to double down on all the policy failures of the last couple of years and add more to that spending and raise taxes.

Radio Host: Certainly the leaders of the states that are working with ALEC policies are moving toward freedom by passing policies like flat taxes, and lowering overall regulations. I think the contrast couldn’t be more stark right now.

Jonathan Williams: That’s exactly right. I want to ask the Big Government spenders, “What were you actually thinking was going to happen when you spent hundreds of billions of additional borrowed dollars? And then add on the new student loan debt forgiveness plan.”  My co-author of Rich States, Poor States, Dr. Arthur  Laffer, says this all the time, “This isn’t rocket surgery.” When you spend more and tax more, you’re going to put pressure on inflation and have less economic growth.

Radio Host:  And who do you think is going to pay for this new student loan forgiveness plan that Biden rolled out?

Jonathan Williams: I think all of us are going to pay for it. We’re paying for it in a couple of different ways. We’re paying for it now, as it is going to add to the inflation pressure, certainly and put more pressure on the Federal Reserve to continue raising rates and hurting the housing market and everyone’s savings and those pension funds that are already underfunded. And we will also pay for it again when the bill actually comes due.

Radio Host: Don’t you think universities are now going to raise tuition costs because they can?

Jonathan Williams: That’s such an important point. This is a case of of misaligned incentives.  Everything that we should be doing from a policy basis, this federal government is doing the exact opposite. The debt forgiveness scheme is going to give colleges and universities more incentive to raise tuition far above the inflation rate. And it will give people all the more incentive to rack up more debt, in many cases, for degrees that may not matter in the future. Because guess what? If we bailed them out of student debt once, why wouldn’t the federal government do it again?

Listen to full interview below beginning at 3:55: