Author Archive: David Theroux

David J. Theroux is Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Independent Institute.
Full biography and recent publications

GM’s Chevy Volt Costs Taxpayers $250,000 Per Vehicle


Wednesday December 21st, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 6:37pm PST   •   23 Comments

In new analysis from the Mackinac Center, James Hohman discusses how $3 billion in federal and state funding for General Motors’ Chevy Volt, the much acclaimed “green,” plug-in, hybrid electric vehicle, is costing taxpayers $250,000 per car. As noted by Hohman, the Volt “might be the most government-supported car since the Trabant,” the car…
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The U.S. Government’s “Green” Car Boondoggle Is Failing


Monday December 12th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 3:54pm PST   •   13 Comments

In “For Obama’s green-car revolution, fits and starts” in the Washington Post, Carol Leonig and Joe Stephens report that the highly-touted, taxpayer subsidized, “green” car bonanza is failing, as production lines and sales expectations have been dramatically scaled back in recent months. In reality, this federal program is nothing but a corporate-welfare system for…
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Beyond Politics: The Roots of Government Failure


Thursday December 8th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 10:40pm PST   •   0 Comments

Traditional public policy and welfare economics have held that “market failures”—the presumed inability of a free market to deliver certain goods and services deemed to be in the public interest—are common and require government intervention to protect the public good. But is this actually the case? The Independent Institute book, Beyond Politics, by Senior…
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Federal Reserve Gave Big Banks Secret Loans of $7.77 Trillion


Monday November 28th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 9:34pm PST   •   2 Comments

Brent Budowsky of The Hill has called for Cong. Ron Paul to hold hearings before the subcommittee he chairs on the news of secret Federal Reserve bailouts of the the biggest banks. The news comes from an article by Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz at Bloomberg Markets Magazine that the Federal Reserve…
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Former Solyndra Employees Now to Receive Even More Federal Aid


Friday November 25th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 1:43pm PST   •   6 Comments

In “Ex-Solyndra Staff Eligible For TAA Federal Aid; Packages Worth Average $13,000 Each,” Sean Higgins at Investor’s Business Daily reports that after the Obama-acclaimed, model “green energy” firm scammed a half billion dollars from taxpayers through bankruptcy, the White House has now approved even more corporate welfare for those involved: The Labor Department today…
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Freddie Mac Wants a Bailout of $6 Billion More


Thursday November 3rd, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 10:31pm PDT   •   1 Comment

Shahien Nasiripour reports at The Financial Times in “Freddie Mac seeks further $6bn from taxpayers” that: Freddie Mac, the US-controlled mortgage financier, has requested an additional $6bn from US taxpayers, following a $4.4bn third-quarter loss, the company’s worst three-month performance in more than a year. The home loan group said more homeowners were falling…
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Washington Breaks Government Spending Record: $3.6 Trillion


Tuesday October 25th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 11:39pm PDT   •   1 Comment

The Wall Street Journal reports in “A New Spending Record: Washington had its best year ever in fiscal 2011″ that: Maybe it’s a sign of the tumultuous times, but the federal government recently wrapped up its biggest spending year, and its second biggest annual budget deficit, and almost nobody noticed. Is it rude to…
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The Federal Government Admits It Paid $600 Million to Dead People


Saturday September 24th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 3:51pm PDT   •   2 Comments

Sam Hananel at the Associated Press reports that despite knowing about the problem since 2005: The federal government has doled out more than $600 million in benefit payments to dead people over the past five years, a watchdog report says. Such payments are meant for retired or disabled federal workers, but sometimes the checks…
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U.S. Regulatory Tsunami Is Destroying Jobs


Sunday September 18th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 11:08am PDT   •   1 Comment

In his article, “New report cites ‘regulatory tsunami’ under Obama,” Byron York reports in the Washington Examiner that a new report from the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee reveals that instead of his claim to oppose job-killing regulations, President Barack Obama has radically expanded federal regulations, producing a “regulatory tsunami that has stifled…
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World War II Did Not End the Great Depression: Lessons for Today


Friday September 9th, 2011   •   Posted by David Theroux at 5:58pm PDT   •   3 Comments

In a very timely new article in The Weekly Standard, “The Ultimate Stimulus? World War Two and Economic Growth,” Arthur Herman refutes the Keynesian economics myth that Big Government spending during World War II ended the Great Depression. In so doing, he bases his analysis on the path-breaking work of Independent Institute Senior Fellow…
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