In formal economics we talk often about the need for government in the face of market failure. Market failure is a condition where it is believed that the private market will not address societies needs, therefore government must step in, tax the citizens and provide the societal need. A common example is that of a community that desires a street lamp be placed; however, no one individual or firm will invest in the street lamp because there are those who will not pay for the street lamp's benefit, its illumination.

My belief is that market failure conditions have been over-defined, that the private market, which operates with greater efficiency, has been crowded-out of too many arenas. The clear implication for Michigan and 60th district voters is that their tax bills are too high and that they may be paying for services which they really do not value all that much. A simple example seen by the city residents is that of autumn leaf pick up. The city has determined that this is a needed function of government, but if an individual does not have trees in his yard what value does this service provide him. He is being taxed for a service that provides him zero benefit. Even more damaging are the unintended consequences upon our young people and businesses. Leaf pickup is certainly a task that any of the many landscape companies in our community could perform in a competitively priced market (perhaps leaves are picked-up soon after they fall rather than sitting in the street for a month), further, there are many eager young people who could perform leaf pickup. In this way the city is crowding out the next generation of entrepreneur. Eager young people are not given the opportunity to perform a service, learn about business, or simply earn a little extra money.

Certainly I have not based my candidacy on autumn leaf pick-up improvement, but this type of analysis can be applied to every area of government. To see a few more examples of how we can reduce the cost of government and your tax bill, implicit and explicit, read about my Vision for Michigan.