In his Friday column, Sheldon Richman takes issue with the supposedly pro-market economists who are opposed to the “stimulus” package, but say that the economy is fine and the government doesn’t need to do anything. Actually, there is an awful lot for the government to do, or to be more accurate, un-do, he contends.
The U.S. may have the world’s fifth freest economy (according to the latest Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom), but it is not very free at all. It’s bound up with an enormous number of subsidies, taxes, regulations, mandates, prohibitions, and so on. Sadly, almost every politician panders to the ignorance of voters by promising them an economic quick fix rather than telling them that better economic performance will come only through the difficult business of repealing a host of laws that are bad for the nation generally but good for particular interest groups.
These days we are hearing a lot about candidates’ ideas. John Edwards was praised by the N&O for running a “campaign of ideas.” Sadly, there is a whole universe of ideas they avoid — ideas about repealing laws and increasing freedom.
