At the University of Chicago, where economist Milton Friedman taught (and where I studied), there was an expression so often used it became the slogan of T-shirts sold on campus. It went: “That’s all well and good in practice, but does it work in theory?” Such commitment to the abstract world of theory appears to have also taken hold in North Carolina. The problem is the theories are spawning public policies that in practice will lead to truly harmful impacts on North Carolinians and the economy. The argument goes that the private sector must be unfettered by taxes and regulation in order to create jobs and spur the economy. This, the argument continues, will not only...
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