Ever since the economic implosion began (and actually before it began), a few economists explained what what happening and why through the Austrian theory of the business cycle. In a nutshell: when government artificially cheapens credit, that leads to unsustainable economic distortions that will later have to rectified with adjustments in the overexpanded sectors of the economy.
Because the Austrian explanation identifies the villain as government meddling with a key price — interest — rather than blaming it on leftist bogeymen like “greedy businessmen” or “capitalist instability,” the Left has no use for it. But when they have to confront it, what do they say?
For an answer, read this article by Tom Woods, author of Meltdown, a book that explains the economic debacle in Austrian terms. The book was recently dismissed by a leftist writer who felt he had done enough simply to call the Austrian theory a “fringe” idea.
Hey, lefties, you don’t determine whether an idea is true or false just by slapping a label on it. Take your fingers out of your ears and listen to what the Austrians have to say — unless you’re afraid that your house of cards philosophy of government interventionism will collapse.
