SKOUSEN: Ben Franklin Warns America

“No nation was ever ruined by trade.” — Benjamin Franklin

On Constitution Day, I was invited to address the prestigious Wisconsin Forum in Milwaukee. It was my fourth appearance, the most of any speaker in its illustrious history. Past speakers have included Milton Friedman, Henry Hazlitt, Ron Paul and William F. Buckley, Jr.

I talked about the dangers of executive power — placing too much authority in the hands of the one man or woman who is running the country. I also highlighted the potential abuse of executive orders – the power that Congress gives to the president to enable him or her to act unilaterally during “national emergencies.”

In doing research on this topic, I discovered that the Roosevelts were the worst offenders. Teddy Roosevelt signed 1,081 executive orders and Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 3,728 executive orders.

No president has come close to the Roosevelts. Reagan signed 381, Clinton 364, George W. Bush 364 and Trump 122 (so far).

President Donald Trump has declared “national emergencies” to build the wall along the Mexican border and to impose tariffs on Chinese imports. Both are dubious uses of executive orders. The fact that one man, even the elected U.S. president, has such authority is scary.

The Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, who was a famous supporter of free trade, warned us that our republican form of government could turn into tyranny sometime in the future if we gave too much power to the executive. I ended my talk with this ominous warning that Franklin made on June 2, 1789, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia:

“I am apprehensive that the government of these states may in future times end in a monarchy, and a King will the sooner be set over us… But this catastrophe I think may be long delayed, if in our proposed system we do not sow the seeds of contention, faction and tumult.”

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Home Run Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/