Following severe flooding in the Mississippi River basin, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said the flood "may stimulate the economy." "A lot of concrete will be poured," he said. "You have to look at all the jobs that will be created to repair the damage."

[Ed.: This is a variation on the classic economic fallacy identified by Frederic Bastiat in 1850: Someone breaks a window, and the politician points out what a good thing this is for the community, since it gives the glassmaker a job.]

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