Matt Collins
11-21-2008, 04:49 PM
What "Laissez-Faire Capitalism"?
As the economic crisis continues, we're constantly hearing critics blaming America's alleged "laissez-faire economy" for somehow causing it.
For example, the New York Times recently declared: "The United States has a culture that celebrates laissez-faire capitalism as the economic ideal."
Baloney, says renowned economist and syndicated columnist Walter Williams:
"First, let's establish what laissez-faire capitalism is. Broadly defined, it is an economic system based on private ownership and control over of the means
of production. Under laissez-faire capitalism, government activity is restricted to the protection of the individual's rights against fraud, theft
and the initiation of physical force. ...
"You can decide whether we have an unregulated laissez-faire economy. There are 15 cabinet departments, nine of which control various aspects of the U.S. economy. They are the Departments of: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Energy, Labor, Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior.
"In addition, there is the alphabet soup cluster of federal agencies such as: the IRS, the FRB and FDIC, the EPA, FDA, SEC, CFTC, NLRB, FTC, FCC, FERC, FEMA, FAA, CAA, INS, OHSA, CPSC, NHTSA, EEOC, BATF, DEA, NIH, and NASA.
"Here's my question to you: Can one be sane and at the same time hold that ours is an unregulated laissez-faire economy?
"Better yet, tell me what a businessman, or for that matter you, can do that does *not* involve some kind of government regulation.
"A businessman must seek government approval for the minutest detail of his operation or face the wrath of some government agency, whether it's at the
federal, state or local level. Just about everything we buy or use has some kind of government dictate involved whether it's package labeling, how many gallons of water to flush toilets or what pharmaceuticals can be prescribed.
...
"{T]here is massive government control over our economy."
Dr. Williams goes on to point out, as we have recently done in past issues, that the crisis was not caused by the market, but by enormous government interference with the market -- again, precisely the opposite of "laissez-faire capitalism."
(Source: Walter Williams:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80027 )
As the economic crisis continues, we're constantly hearing critics blaming America's alleged "laissez-faire economy" for somehow causing it.
For example, the New York Times recently declared: "The United States has a culture that celebrates laissez-faire capitalism as the economic ideal."
Baloney, says renowned economist and syndicated columnist Walter Williams:
"First, let's establish what laissez-faire capitalism is. Broadly defined, it is an economic system based on private ownership and control over of the means
of production. Under laissez-faire capitalism, government activity is restricted to the protection of the individual's rights against fraud, theft
and the initiation of physical force. ...
"You can decide whether we have an unregulated laissez-faire economy. There are 15 cabinet departments, nine of which control various aspects of the U.S. economy. They are the Departments of: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Energy, Labor, Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior.
"In addition, there is the alphabet soup cluster of federal agencies such as: the IRS, the FRB and FDIC, the EPA, FDA, SEC, CFTC, NLRB, FTC, FCC, FERC, FEMA, FAA, CAA, INS, OHSA, CPSC, NHTSA, EEOC, BATF, DEA, NIH, and NASA.
"Here's my question to you: Can one be sane and at the same time hold that ours is an unregulated laissez-faire economy?
"Better yet, tell me what a businessman, or for that matter you, can do that does *not* involve some kind of government regulation.
"A businessman must seek government approval for the minutest detail of his operation or face the wrath of some government agency, whether it's at the
federal, state or local level. Just about everything we buy or use has some kind of government dictate involved whether it's package labeling, how many gallons of water to flush toilets or what pharmaceuticals can be prescribed.
...
"{T]here is massive government control over our economy."
Dr. Williams goes on to point out, as we have recently done in past issues, that the crisis was not caused by the market, but by enormous government interference with the market -- again, precisely the opposite of "laissez-faire capitalism."
(Source: Walter Williams:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80027 )