This is an excellent article by Joseph Keckeissen over at Mises Daily. He’s right, the economic crisis should and could be completely over. We should be on our way to wealth and prosperity and Obama could be a hero. Here’s the prescription that would have worked to end it all:
…on January 20th last, precisely
at noon, the newly inaugurated president would have announced to the
American people…that his program was NO, but NO. If he had said,
The inflationary monster TARP is out. No more bloating up the money
supply and the budget with inflationary inanities. No more bailouts. No
more rescues. No more trillions. Those who have received any bit of
largesse will promptly return their ill-gotten loot to the Treasury.
The bankruptcy courts are now authorized to get on with their
interments at once. Nobody is too big not to be interred.
With this no-but-no on the part of the new president, the market
would have immediately stood up to perform its traditional job. All
bloated prices would have immediately crash-dived down to some normal
sustainable level. All talk of newer regulatory agencies would end.
Instead of a great inaugural parade, we would have witnessed the
opening of a new capitalist cemetery, the funeral cortege bearing the
titles of the fallen titans of yesteryear.
By the first of February, at the latest, everything would have been
again on the upsurge. The second spring of capitalism would be in bloom
all over the landscape and President Obama would proudly be presiding
over the greatest boom ever in American economic history.
