Tyranny of dead ideas

Last Monday, the radio program Marketplace ("Economics for the rest of us"), featured a guest editorial by Matt Miller. He said that it is counterproductive for us to fund health care through our employers (GM spends more on health care than on steel). Since this is a view I've long held I made a mental note when the announcer said Miller's new book is "The Tyranny of Dead Ideas" -- employer funded health care being one of them. The title itself is intriguing.

So I looked up Matt Miller to find out what some of his other tyrannical dead ideas are:

* Our kids will earn more than we do.

* Free trade is "good" no matter how many people it hurts.

* Your company should take care of you (My company is taking quite good care of my, thank you, though I am aware how fragile that care is).

* Taxes hurt the economy and are always too high.

* Schools are a local matter.

* Money follows merit.

I haven't bought the book (and probably won't), but his chapter on taxes is online. Most of it is a history of the American tax system, though he ends with his major points: The economy has improved during times of high taxes. Americans appreciate the various (and expanding) services government provides and are willing to pay for them.