Blaming The Free Market

Through our current economic crises, as well as in the past, Politicians have blamed economic problems on the free market and lack of regulation. However the truth of the matter is that the United States has steadily been drifting away from Free Market policies for many decades.

The combined burden of excessive regulation, and taxes has lead to a steady erosion of the capital that once supported American’s high standard of living. All the while, the government has grown to astronomical proportions at the expense of the taxpayer and the private sector.

Government creations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and The Federal Reserve were the root cause of the current financial crisis, however the politicians turn a blind eye to this.

Now those same people that created Fannie and Freddie, are the same ones calling for more regulation. Fannie and Freddie undermined the Free Market. These government sponsored entities created moral hazards that lead to reckless lending. And now the politicians want to create yet even more government in the form of more regulations as their proposed solution to today’s problems.

The United States no longer ranks as one of the countries with the most economic freedom, a position it once use to dominate. Places like Panama, Chile, Singapore, Hong Kong have learned from our past free market policies and employed economic systems where government is limited, taxes are low, and economic freedom is protected. Is it any surprise that these are some of the most rapidly expanding economies, and countries in which the standard of living is rising?

On the other hand, the United States, is heading down a dangerous road in which the government expands during good times and expands during bad times. Meanwhile American’s standard of living continues to drop and the government keeps calling for more regulation.