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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Ronald Kitching: The Disaster of Interventionism

It is obvious that many if not most politicians make stupid and socially damaging decisions. This occurs because they are ignorant of the science of economics. But economics, as taught in all of our universities is a course in interventionism.

Interventionism is caused by what ruling politicians perceive to be ‘market failure’.

‘Market failure’ means an economic result with which those politicians do not agree. They do not know that the result is the impersonal, impartial coordinated decisions of the spending of millions of consumers.

Such politicians who declare that the market results are not ‘fair’ are those who yearn to ‘lead’. They are the ones who are exhibiting dictatorial tendencies. Such tendencies put into practice, prohibit the free market’s best use of always scarce resources.

All reasonable people ought to familiarise themselves with the science of economics. In this age of interventionism it is a civic primary duty.

Economics concerns everyone and belongs to all. It is the main and proper study of every citizen.

Personal freedom can exist only in the free market economy. It is not an accident that everywhere, with the progress of interventionism, the democratic institutions have disappeared one after the other and that, in the socialist countries, dictatorial despotism is set to stage a successful come back, as in Zimbabwe.

Future historians will write of the dreadful and destructive era imposed upon Western populations by interventionist politicians.

1 comment:

Eric Crampton said...

1. Market failure has a technical and precise meaning, though politicians sometimes like to pretend that anything they don't like is a market failure.

2. Proof of existence of market failure is hardly sufficient to justify government policy anyway - policy failures are rampant.

3. Please check the courses on offer at Canterbury before deciding that we're also a programme in interventionism....