Illiberal Beliefs And Thinking

Libertarian perspectives from Le Quebecois Libre on:

- Like today, we blamed capitalism for all our economic ills. But Hoover and interventionism prolonged the Depression. Obama's massive spend and borrow plan is in the same mold.

- An essay on French economist Jean-Baptiste Say (a classical liberal) who stood opposite Keynesian beliefs.

"Economic recovery requires that the stock of capital be rebuilt in the economic system. Markets will need the freedom to adjust to slow conditions through price and wage rate reductions. In addition, unsound investments should be sold off. There should be no bailouts and the assets of the mortgage giants should be liquidated. Allowing some businesses to fail and others to begin would provide an incentive to redirect capital into more productive and profitable uses. True entrepreneurs do not request nor obtain government assistance. When a failed or faltering business is rescued by a government handout, it is no longer a business. Likewise, when a businessman obtains his results by receiving special privileges such as subsidies granted by the government, he forfeits his status as a businessman.

Government intervention prevents the efficient functioning of the market. Increasing government involvement makes the investment climate riskier and reduces the motivation of entrepreneurs to innovate. Because of the integration of all individual markets into one functioning system, the reality is that government does not have to be concerned with artificially stimulating demand. Markets clear if not interfered with.

Government efforts to stimulate the economy via direct spending and efforts to stimulate consumer spending are counterproductive. When the government spends, it must expropriate money from businesses to do so, thus ensuring a misallocation of resources. Government should get out of the way by reducing taxation, spending, regulations, and government control of money and the interest rate."