No matter what the situation, no one has the right to compel someone to act for another's benefit, and that includes forced quarantines, business closures, and expropriations of medical equipment in the name of "public health."
We are about to enter a production slowdown—a collapse, really—not because some businesses miscalculated their investments, but because government intervened drastically and without warning to shut down all businesses.
The less agile and adaptive a society is, the more severe its impotence in a crisis. Thanks to an obsessive reliance on monetary policy to fix every problem, our society has increasingly abandoned innovation and productivity.
Many economists today think it's a bad thing when companies cut costs to increase profits. But this is a good thing that limits wasteful spending while setting the stage for more investment elsewhere.
Government institutions, including central banks, have long been responsible for increases in the cost of living. But the burden often falls most on those who are just starting out in their adult lives.
The Greeks haven't saved or produced enough to justify their high standard of living compared to other countries of the world. This is a fragile bubble economy made possible by European central bankers.
The various levels of government in Canada have responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Their ill-advised solutions are to inflict economic hardship and withdraw civil liberties. The longer these authoritarian policies persist, the greater the risk to the social fabric.
The US and the world will rise from this crisis. What the government has to do is allow it. The government is there to facilitate, not to pick winners and losers.
The idea that a free and mostly privatized society would let pandemics rage unchecked is based on a crude caricature. The truth is that a free society offers flexibility and resilience that a centralized system lacks.
Bernie Sanders wants a tax on financial transactions so that every trade brings a penalty. While this most directly affects big traders, regular people will not be immune to the effects.
