Uncle Sam Can’t Count

Drawing on examples from the nation’s past and present — the fur trade to railroads, cars and chemicals, aviation to Solyndra — Uncle Sam Can’t Count is a sweeping work of conservative economic history that explains why the federal government cannot and should not pick winners and losers in the private sector, including the Obama administration.

Burt and Anita Folsom argue that federal officials don’t have the same abilities or incentives as entrepreneurs, and that federal control always leads to politicization. The book is filled with examples of government failures and free market triumphs, from John Jacob Astor to the Wright Brothers, World War II amphibious landing craft to Detroit.

The authors demonstrate that government subsidies have consistently failed throughout American history, draining resources while impeding economic growth. They contrast federal failures with private entrepreneurial successes across multiple industries, making the case that business should be left exclusively to private entrepreneurs.