Have you had a chance to read Stephen Moore’s article “Atlas Shrugged: Fiction to Fact in 52 Years” in the WSJ? Do go there and read it, since I feel guilty even pulling a quote this size from it.
For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as “the looters and their laws.” Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the “Anti-Greed Act” to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel’s promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the “Equalization of Opportunity Act” to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the “Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act,” aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn’t Hank Paulson think of that?
I can answer that… they’ve never read Ayn Rand, or Hayek, or von Mises, or anyone else with any sense, preferring instead to read and regurgitate Keynes, and rely on big government and big governmental controls to try to direct the economy. Which of course exacerbates the problems, as Rand so effectively portrayed in her novel. And guys like Paulson and Obama don’t much care about the economics (my opinion), they’re just using that horse to grow leviathan and expand their own power.
Looters and their laws…
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