Jack Kingston: “I wanted to just get back to the Japanese experiment, because there seems to be some folks that believe in that…”

“I wanted to just get back to the Japanese experiment, because there seems to be some folks that believe in that government- knows-best socialism that we see all over the globe; and unfortunately, it creeps into many of the philosophies and offices in Washington DC. In the period from 1982 to 1991, when the Japanese Government had limited its size by limiting its spending, it had some of the greatest growth in the world. At that time, the average growth of the world economy was 3.3 percent. The growth of the United States economy during 1982 to 1991 was 2.9 percent. Japanese led at 4.1 percent. That was in the day everybody was bullish on Japan. But a funny thing happened on the road to success. Throwing all that which made them successful away, the Japanese Government decided that they would increase the size of government spending; and in the period from 1992 to the year 2000, the Japanese growth rate fell from 4.1 percent to 1 percent. During that period of time, the world's economy, the economic growth, was about level, 3.4 percent. The United States, which had reduced its government spending, was at 3.8 percent. But Japan, because they had a government that went on a spending binge and a taxing binge, their growth fell. Yet we have those in Washington, DC. who cannot learn that lesson. They want to go out and create a bigger government as the solution to the recession, and that is not going to help us one bit.”