Rhodes philosopher and blogger Doctor J offers a complete transcript and video of President Obama's SOTU address. I link to her transcript rather than another because if you don't read her blog, you should. Here's her SOTU wishlist; I look forward to reading her evaluation of the speech itself. Eleven statements on the content are below the fold, which raises a question: if thirteen is a baker's dozen, is eleven an economist's dozen?

1. "One in ten Americans still can't find work." To this, I would respond that the President needs to watch the Hayek v. Keynes "Fear the Boom and Bust" video, Google "regime uncertainty" and read what Robert Higgs has written about the Great Depression, and then introduce legislation to repeal the minimum wage. Seriously.

2. America's families are "working harder and longer for less." Honestly, that blew me away. If you're going to stretch the truth, at least say something that's technically true, but misleading: my favorites include discussions of stagnant wages that ignore benefits as a part of total compensation and discussions of inequality that (a) treat income and wealth like they're the same thing (they're not) and that (b) pretend that every soul who was in the bottom quintile of the income distribution in 1979 was also in the bottom quintile of the income distribution in 2009 (they weren't). Start here for more from Steve Horwitz, who has a handful of very good posts and links to data on trends in income and wealth.

3. Accidents of birth shouldn't determine whether you have access to the opportunities afforded by the American economy. I wholeheartedly agree, and I think that extends to accidents of birth that occur outside our borders. By construction, though, "foreign" = scary and bad. I didn't expect him to say "you know what? We should open the borders," but it would have been nice. Here are some of my thoughts on poverty alleviation from Blog Action Day in 2008.

4. Giving money to large banks is the worst idea ever, but giving money to small banks is the best idea ever (I paraphrase Reason.com's Katherine Mangu-Ward, who was part of the group at Reason who live-blogged the speech).

5. You know what makes a country rich? Exports, and policies designed to encourage them. I think at least one economist wrote something about that a long time ago. Adam something. It'll come to me eventually.

6. You know what else makes a country rich, or at least cures recessions? Stimulus spending. Here's a direct quote that Frederic Bastiat would have loved for reasons Bastiat fans will recognize immediately: "(t)alk to the window manufacturer in Philadelphia who said he used to be skeptical about the Recovery Act, until he had to add two more work shifts just because of the business it created" (HT: Jeff Papazian for the point about the glazier). Here's how Frederic Bastiat might respond. Study this picture of the unemployment rate with and without the recovery plan, and ponder what Greg Mankiw says about how "the act of releasing quarterly reports on how many jobs have been 'created or saved' gives the illusion of accountability without the reality." Here's more on jobs "saved or created" from David Switzer.

7. If we're evaluating a policy, should we focus only on the intended beneficiaries? Or should we look at the unseen and unintended consequences? Here (again, in case you missed it the first time) is how Frederic Bastiat might respond. Addendum: if we're worried about inefficient businesses and complacent CEOS--and if you want to dabble in populism--it's a good idea to take Robin Hanson's advice and unleash corporate raiders.

8. Banks lent money irresponsibly to people who couldn't pay it back. Donald Boudreaux asks the right question, though: would a decrease in lending to low-income borrowers have been politically possible? This piece by Jeff Jacoby causes me to think "probably not."

9. Brawndo The Thirst Mutilator can help us win at yelling, jumping, waving, and exercise. If Americans drink Brawndo, we might win at trade.

10. We need to be clearer about the language. If it covers pre-existing conditions, it's prepaid care. It's not "insurance." "Coverage," maybe. "Insurance," no.

11. Someone, somewhere is going to bed stone sober because he drew a card in a SOTU drinking game that told him to drink a beer every time the President reaffirmed his commitment to closing Guantanamo.