It used to be that in the United States, individuals ran the economy. If I want something, I would look for and decide to buy it - or not buy it. If it didn't exist, someone else might see the need, create it, and sell it. Does this kind of free market economy exist today? How much control do we have over our own lives?
According to usgovernmentspending.com, 2009 government spending (Federal, State and Local) accounted for a whopping 42.46% of our economy. Do we really need our government to provide for us to such an extent? Are we so incompetent we can't make our own decisions about what we need? Do companies need guidance in the form of tax incentives and government backed loans to help decide what consumers need?
Adam Smith used the analogy of chess match to explain why central planning doesn't work. The government assumes it can plan the economy like it moves pieces on a chess board. But it doesn't consider that pieces on the chess board have no other way to move except by its hand. In human society, every single piece has its own ability to move whichever direction it wants, which may be in direct opposition to what government wants. The result, "If those two principles coincide and act in the same direction, the game of human society will go on easily and harmoniously, and is very likely to be happy and successful. If they are opposite or different, the game will go on miserably, and the society must be at all times in the highest degree of disorder."
How often does the government manage to do what everyone wants? Are things right now easy and harmonious? Or miserable and in the highest degree of disorder? Less government equals a happier, more prosperous society.
BTW, this is my next letter to the editor, we'll see if it gets published.
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