Whether we vote Republicans
or Democrats we get economic chaos. Why?
Republicans talk in favor of the free market,
but what’s the disconnect? It’s all
about ownership.
Economics is the process of
problem-solving. It’s making choices of
how to use limited resources so that the best outcome is realized. Ownership entails power and responsibility to
maximize the benefit of property. When
Republicans and Democrats look at GDP, Unemployment Rate, etc. they politicize
the virtue of their economic policies. For
a politician to achieve a political benefit, they must make choices regarding
the use of resources, which assumes ownership of the property. If GDP is a reflection on the political
machine in power, and since GDP is the total production within the political
jurisdiction, they have implicitly assumed ownership of all property. They play God. Even cutting taxes is making a choice to “let”
you use your money.
Both parties theoretically
use different approaches to help the economy, both involve state officials
telling people what to make and do with their property. In Socialist nations, the totalitarian state
just takes over the property directly.
This usually fails quickly. For us they’re subtler, nonetheless, both parties are guilty of taking
ownership of people’s property. Here
they do it with spending. In our
economy, the spenders of money voluntarily induce the property owners to make
and do what they want. But for the
state, getting the money is not voluntary.
Because taxes are so unpopular, they will borrow on the faith that they
will tax in the future. But that
prevents some people from getting the opportunity to borrow because the
interest rate goes up. To correct this,
the central planners in the Federal Reserve, with “supreme wisdom” decide what
the interest rate ought to be and create new money. This is the subtlest because our money loses
value, but the public is unaware of it for a long time. It’s only apparent they
have gotten poorer when they can buy fewer goods and services than otherwise. However,
if technology and harder work improve goods and services, who knows how much richer
they otherwise would be? Anyway,
spending money on credit doesn’t seem like they’re taking control of your
property, but make no mistake, they’ve bought what they wanted from your property
and then left you with money which is losing value.
The difference for Libertarians
in the economy is Ownership. The use of
your property is determined by you. What
you decide to sell will be judged by the market—how much they give for it. If you serve your neighbor well, your power
and responsibility will grow. If you
don’t, your power and responsibility will decline. What you decide to keep or give will be
judged by only God. The state has no
authority to maximize indicators of the “General Welfare” because property can
have only one legitimate owner. The
fuzzy concept of “General Welfare” is secondary to the fundamental issue of
Justice. But as a secondary issue, freedom has the best track record for
promoting prosperity and reducing poverty.
And there’s no politician to thank for that success.
