Mises Daily
Author:
Robert P. Murphy
Online Publish Date:
One of economic historian Bob Higgs’s outstanding contributions is the “ratchet effect.” During a crisis, the size and scope of government grow tremendously. After the crisis subsides, government shrinks, but not to the precrisis level. In consequence, leviathan expands over the decades, leaping from one crisis to the next. We see Higgs’s thesis