Many politicians attempt to convince us that big government spending leads to economic growth and prosperity. Among the most egregious recent examples of this is the rhetoric of Nancy Pelosi. To Nancy Pelosi, every government spending results in more jobs and prosperity. Cap and Trade is about “jobs jobs jobs” to her, and the fact that it would bring up the cost of doing business and everything else is of no consequence.

Some government spending for safety and order does facilitate prosperity, but further spending turns the relationship between the size of government and prosperity around, resulting in more government for less prosperity.

The following video from the The Center for Freedom and Prosperity does a great job explaining this and compares economic performance among Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and the U.S.A.