Free Markets

Bernstein's book takes us outside the here and now and helps us understand the big picture, and he does this by looking at the details of goods traded in lands far away in all times.

By outlawing short selling, the Securities and Exchange Commission outlawed a practice that produces information necessary for financial markets to function smoothly.

Q: So what's the solution?

A: Get out of the way. Let the market work.

If the market is left to its own devices, the price will be an accurate reflection of what something is worth at a given point in time. When the government intervenes, it forces the prices to lie: the signals about the costs and benefits of different actions will be distorted.

It was Boetie's view that the state is the least plausible institution on earth, one that would be overthrown in a day but for propaganda and ideological error.

"The government package is not going to rescue the economy, but it will rescue activities that the economy cannot afford and that consumers do not want."

It was credit expansion and the attempt to keep prices high that prolonged the Depression, which would otherwise have ended by 1931 or 1932. On this point Bernanke is all wet.

We agree that charity is a virtue, but sometimes well-intentioned plans have undesirable consequences or fail to live up to their potential because they change people's incentives.

My methods can be replicated. I hope to encourage others to take up the challenge — including the next generation of persons willing to aid the cause of liberty by going behind enemy lines.

As more individuals like Yoani Sanchez and Ron Paul emerge by means of the Internet, the inevitable long-term result will be a freer, happier, more prosperous world.