Cato Institute uses college newspapers to oppose stimulus package

When telling the President wasn't enough, the sponsors of a petition on the economy sent a message to the future leaders of the country instead.

Yesterday, The Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank, placed ads in 15 student newspapers across the United States, including The Daily Pennsylvanian. The ads featured a petition to from academics in the field of economics criticizing President Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which passed the U.S. Senate yesterday.

Wharton Finance professor Pavel Savor and Law professor Jason Johnston were included in the undersigned.

The petition claimed that there was no historical precedent for government spending to improve economic performance. It also ran in national newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post on Jan. 29.

The re-run of the petition in student newspapers was to "reach out to society's future leaders," according to Students for Liberty executive director and Penn 2008 alumnus Alexander McCobin, whose group co-sponsored yesterday's printing.

"Students can think for themselves" and should be exposed to the range of ideas and opinions that exist, McCobin added.

Tad DeHaven, budget analyst at the Cato Institute, said the undersigned comprised a variety of opinions but were "unified in their opposition" to the bill.

The petition quoted Obama saying "there is no disagreement" that government action was needed to help the economy.

DeHaven said it is "not true [that] there is universal support" for the bill and that Cato is trying to "shape public opinion" by voicing a different perspective.

He added that Cato and he were disappointed that Obama was using what they saw as "dire warnings" to scare Congress into action, and that the situation was similar to President George W. Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Savor signed the petition when it appeared in his e-mail inbox, but he said he has no relation to Cato otherwise.

He said he doesn't think government intervention is the best way to redistribute money, but that "economists disagree on this."

However, Savor said, most economists agree that the financial sector needs to be fixed, suggesting banks go into liquidation and be re-built "without bailing out shareholders."

College junior Anne Skuza, president of Penn Libertarians, said the group will "definitely be doing something" on campus in response to the passing of the bill. Libertarians typically disapprove of government intervention in economic problems such as the one ocurring now.

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