Government shouldn't pick winners

You don't often hear academics saying government should lower taxes and regulations on businesses, much less those who work for state schools.

But Dean Stansel is one of those rare birds. He's associate professor of economics at Florida Gulf Coast University and former researcher at the Cato Institute.

Speaking to the Real Estate Investment Society in Fort Myers recently, Stansel says his research shows how lower taxes lead to faster economic growth. While not a surprise to this crowd of entrepreneurs, it's not the usual line coming out of academia these days.

In addition, Stansel says well-meaning economic development government organizations should let the market determine who's successful. “We have government picking winners and losers,” Stansel says. “In my view, it's counter-productive.”

Meanwhile, the federal government's spending has tripled since 1990 and is unsustainable, Stansel argues. That makes the U.S. less competitive when combined with higher regulations and taxes. “We're out of whack with our competitors around the world,” he says. “We have an overspending problem.”