Editing Ron Paul (section)

=== Economic issues ===
[[File:Paul LPAC 2011.jpg|thumb|Paul speaking at the 2011 [[Liberty Political Action Conference]] (LPAC)]]

Paul is a proponent of [[Austrian School]] economics; he has authored six books on the subject, and displayed pictures of Austrian School economists [[Friedrich Hayek]], [[Murray Rothbard]], and [[Ludwig von Mises]] (as well as of President [[Grover Cleveland]] and [[Chicago school (economics)|Chicago School]] economist [[Milton Friedman]])<ref name=will>{{cite news |title=A Cheerful Anachronism |url=http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=177422&Disp=41&Trace=on |author-link=George Will |last=Will |first=George F |date=February 18, 2007 |access-date=March 17, 2008 |work=[[Newsweek]] |archive-date=April 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408054649/http://libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=177422&Disp=41&Trace=on |url-status=dead}}</ref> on his office wall. He regularly voted against almost all proposals for new government spending, initiatives, or taxes;<ref name=saynot>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/AR2006070800966_2.html |title=Congressman Paul's Legislative Strategy? He'd Rather Say Not |author=Copeland, Libby |date=July 9, 2006 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 23, 2007 |url-access=limited}}</ref> he cast two thirds of all the lone negative votes in the House during a 1995–1997 period.<ref name=drno/>

Paul pledged never to raise taxes,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atr.org/content/html/2007/april/042407pr-ronpaul_pledge.html |title=Rep. Ron Paul Signs Presidential Taxpayer Protection Pledge |access-date=October 23, 2007 |publisher=Americans for Tax Freedom |author=Kartch, John |date=April 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011150929/http://atr.org/content/html/2007/april/042407pr-ronpaul_pledge.html |archive-date=October 11, 2007}}</ref> and states he has never voted to approve a [[budget deficit]]. Paul believes that the country could abolish the individual [[income tax]] by scaling back federal spending to its fiscal year 2000 levels;<ref name=endirs>{{cite web |url=http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr013003c.htm |title=End the Income Tax – Pass the Liberty Amendment |publisher=[[U.S. House of Representatives]] |work=[[Congressional Record]] |author=Paul, Ron |date=January 30, 2003 |access-date=March 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080301111946/http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr013003c.htm |archive-date=March 1, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antiwarpresident.com/ronpaul/Ron-Paul-less-government-abolish-IRS.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705203920/http://www.antiwarpresident.com/ronpaul/Ron-Paul-less-government-abolish-IRS.html |archive-date=July 5, 2007 |title=Paul Want Less Government, Less Taxes, and Abolish IRS |date=September 13, 2007 |work=Antiwar President |access-date=October 23, 2007}}</ref> financing government operations would be primarily by [[Excise tax in the United States|excise taxes]] and non-protectionist [[tariff]]s. He endorses eliminating most [[Government agencies#Government agencies in the United States|federal government agencies]], terming them unnecessary bureaucracies. On April 15, 2011, Paul was one of four Republican members of Congress to vote against Representative [[Paul Ryan]]'s budget proposal, known as "[[The Path to Prosperity]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll277.xml |title=Final vote results for roll call 277 |publisher=Clerk of the House of Representatives |date=April 15, 2011 |access-date=April 23, 2011}}</ref>

Paul has consistently warned of [[hyperinflation]] and called for a return to the [[gold standard]] as far back as 1981.<ref>Five Myths About the Gold Standard, Congressman Ron Paul, Congressional Record. 97th Congress, First Session. Volume 127, Part II. February 23, 1981. No. 28: "I believe such a standard to be not only desirable and feasible, but absolutely necessary if we aim to avoid the very real possibility of hyperinflation in the near future, and economic collapse. But in Washington today we have five myths about the gold standard."<!-- {{cite web |url=http://www.knology.net/~bilrum/5goldmyths.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=December 14, 2009 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232747/http://www.knology.net/~bilrum/5goldmyths.htm |archivedate=March 3, 2016}} --></ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2012/08/24/gop-appeased-me-on-gold-standard-rep-ron-paul.html |title=GOP Appeased Me on Gold Standard: Rep. Ron Paul |first=Justin |last=Menza |website=[[CNBC]] |date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> From 1999 until his retirement, he introduced bills into each Congress seeking to eliminate the [[Federal Reserve System]] in a single year,<ref>{{cite web |title=H.R. 1148: Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h106-1148 |work=106th Congress, 1999-03-17 |access-date=January 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=H.R. 1094: Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1094 |work=112th Congress, 2011-03-15 |access-date=January 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Paul, Ron |date=September 11, 2007 |access-date=October 23, 2007 |title=Question and Answer session following Keynote speech at the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies forum "Foreign Policy: A View from a Presidential Candidate" |url=http://ronpaulaudio.com/rpaudio/RonPaulatJohnsHopkinsSchoolofInternationalStudiesSAIS091107.m3u |work=Ron Paul Audio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324220848/http://ronpaulaudio.com/rpaudio/RonPaulatJohnsHopkinsSchoolofInternationalStudiesSAIS091107.m3u |archive-date=March 24, 2009}}</ref> a position he outlines in his 2009 book ''[[End the Fed]]''. Paul is a strong proponent of [[free trade]], once saying that "free trade is an answer to a lot of conflicts around the world".<ref name="Mic" /> He rejects membership in the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) and the [[World Trade Organization]] as "managed trade".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ontheissues.org/tx/Ron_Paul_Free_Trade.htm |title=Ron Paul on Free Trade |website=www.ontheissues.org}}</ref> He has also advocated for open trade and better relations with the country of [[Cuba]]. In addition, Paul argued in 2012 that "as well intentioned as [[Economic sanctions|sanctions]] are, they almost always backfire and hurt the people."<ref name="Mic">{{cite web |title=Ron Paul is the Only GOP Candidate Who Gets it Right on Cuba |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/3678/ron-paul-is-the-only-gop-candidate-who-gets-it-right-on-cuba |work=Mic |date=January 2012}}</ref>

Paul has described his interest in ending wars and lowering [[military spending]] as partly an "economic issue", adding, "We'd save a lot of money by not being engaged [in overseas conflict] like this."<ref name="WAexaminer" />