I haven't praised Bruce Bartlett enough.

Bartlett mentions Bill Clinton's superb trade policy (at least by comparison to either Bush, and all presidents between Reagan and Coolidge, not inclusive). The Clinton boom can be exclusively attributed to that and giving Greenspan a free hand with monetary policy.

One more thing I noticed is that it seems like liberals like to pass laws to express the feelings of Society with no thought of the nasty things that need to be done to enforce them or any intention of doing those things. Sort of like what InstaPundit said about this. (If you don't want to register, at least read what Reynolds cited.) His quote:

"Perhaps this explains the different degree of enthusiasm for international agreements on the part of Europe and the United States -- the United States actually worries about having to comply with them, while the Europeans, unfettered by any such concerns, are free to posture."

American conservatives don't pass laws based merely on feelings, but they are a danger to actually enforce dumbass laws merely because they're on the books.

The purpose of prisons is to get dangerous people off the streets, the purpose of civil penalties is to strongly discourage the commission of thoughtless harmful acts. You might say the former is for personal harms, the latter is for impersonal harms.