Why spending does not equal prosperity

Russ Roberts at Cafe Hayek uses an interesting thought experiment to refute the claims by many who insist that government spending can’t help but boost the economy:

Talking to my same smart friend about World War II, he said, ‘Surely World War II created prosperity. People who had been out of work had jobs in the tank factory and had money to spend. There was zero unemployment. Don’t tell me that the military expansion of World War II didn’t improve the economy!’

Here is my answer.

Did NY family keep masterpiece behind sofa?

What may be the art find of the century sounds more like an entertaining if implausible short story.

A dusty old painting that has sat behind the sofa in a Buffalo, N.Y., home for nearly three decades could be a Michelangelo worth $300 million, according to an art expert.

The unfinished painting of Jesus and Mary has long been in the family of  US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Martin Kober, who lives in Western New York. He and his relatives nicknamed it “The Mike” because of a family legend that it had been painted by the famed Renaissance artist.

The painting had hung in the Kober home but was knocked off the wall by a stray tennis ball 27 years ago, so it was wrapped it up and put behind the couch, The Telegraph reported.