Economy
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BAILOUT, SCHMAILOUT!
Three Articles to Help You Get Your Head Around the Current Crisis
One: DON'T GET CAUGHT IN THIS TRAP!
It's a Baby and Bathwater Situation
Don't Let them Convince you to Chuck the Baby
The
buzz in the media by many of the economic pundits right now is that we
are in a whole new age of government and economic policy in the United
States and the world, that "American Capitalism" is over and dead, that
the Reagan era of trusting free markets is dead. We urge you not to get
caught in that trap. This is a golden opportunity for people in power
to deal in fear to increase their power over the economy and your
financial affairs in the same way that the same people used the fear of
terrorism to consolidate power and dial back personal freedom and the
right to privacy. It is not free markets that caused the current
crisis. It is fraud. (See
Overview: The Two F-words.) A government controlled, planned economy
will result in curbing opportunity for entrepreneurialsm, financial
freedom, growth and opportunity.
What if there were a sudden
rash of rapes and muggings on the streets of your city. Would there be
clamour for curfews? Would you want to require everyone to have a
special permit to walk the sidewalks after dark? After all, a lack of
regulation of who is on the sidewalks has led to an increase in rapes
and muggings. Our women are at risk!
This is ludicrous, right?
Just because some people abuse their freedom of movement doesn't mean
the rest of us should surrender that freedom. It just means we may need
more police or private security patrols on our streets. Yet when people
abuse economic freedom, the rallying cry in government, in the media,
and around the water cooler seems to be for tight regulation of
financial services. This is the economic equivalent of curfews and
sidewalk permits. And it's driven by the same fear that has caused many
Americans to be willing to forget the Constitution and let the FBI and
the Traveler Shakedown Agency (TSA) run roughshod over other personal
liberties.
As much as Libertarians are so not in love with
FDR, he was right about one thing. The enemy is fear. Fear will cause
otherwise freedom loving people to give up that freedom quicker than
anything. But this has never been a nation ruled by fear (until now).
This has been a nation of courage and freedom loving heroism. We still
lionize (rightly so) Patrick Henry, who said "Give me liberty or give
me death." So why are we so willing to toss out baby Liberty with the
bathwater at the first hint of threat to our physical or financial
wellbeing.
Regulation, or the abridgement of liberty by any
other name, is never the solution. It is liberty and free markets that
made this nation great. It is our strength. When trouble comes-- any
kind of trouble, personal or national or anything in between-- success
comes in drawing on our strengths, not cutting off the arms and hands
we can use to fight in our defense, not throwing out the baby just
because the water needs changing.
-jwh-
Links to more substantial discussions of these issues.
The Economy, Jobs, and Entrepreneurship or Why Capitalism Really Does Benefit the Masses
Two: Two TRILLION Dollars!?
How's This for a Stimulus Check?
Why Not Just Give Back all Taxes Collected Since Day One?
Well, how about it?
A while back, when the price tag for the bailout was a mere $750 Billion, there was
a viral email making the rounds-- you probably received a version of
it-- that said if the government just divided up the "bailout" and sent
each adult citizen their share, it would be six figures. Unfortunately
original writer is not so good at simple math. More like low four
figures. But... More
Three: Water Balloons and Bailouts
Why you really don't want more regulation.
You really don't!
Or maybe you do want to move back in with Mom and Dad.
From
the perspective of a free market absolutist, as most Libertarians are,
all the clamour for more regulation as a knee jerk response to the
recent financial melt-down is humorous-- at least it would be if it
wasn't so serious.
Our response to the "Regulate!" cheerleaders is this: It's simple. Have you grown up or do you still live with your parents? More
Also of interest... from Lew Rockwell.com: Repudiate the National Debt.
from The Nolan Chart: Print Us Out of Taxes
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