A Free Market Isn't Free
Conservative economists have always argued for a free market by pointing out that it rewards hard work, punishes laziness, and removes the government from people's lives.
Far from being 'free', this system is actually a very tightly regulated national banking system that is specifically designed to keep the economy on an even keel.
The Fed keeps a watchful eye on economic growth and inflation and if the former accelerates too fast it will raise interest rates to limit the latter. The consequence of this is that where market forces (the conservatives' favorite!) might at certain times lead to full employment, the Fed actively and deliberately prevents this from happening so as to control inflation.
There are arguably universal benefits since inflation does harm the poor as well as the rich. But let's not forget that in a system where we are told that hard work, guile, and perseverance can allow anyone to get ahead, the government actively prevents some people from doing this in order to allow the rest to have a chance. An acceptable unemployment rate is 4-5% - many millions of people.
In the absence of another system, monetarism may be the best available. This does not mean, however, that we as a society have no responsibility to those who we throw to the wolves of the market in order to save our own skins. This 4-5% are not necessarily lazy or unwilling to work. Rather we deliberately hinder their ability to improve their lives so that we can have two cars and send our kids to college. We then decry welfare efforts that would mitigate the effects of this policy as encouraging laziness and dependence on the state.
Conservatives hate to see the money that they believe they earned solely through their our own hard work being given to those without employment. They should remember that their success is only made possible by keeping millions of Americans unemployed.
If we are happy to hold 5% down so that we can prosper, surely we have a responsibility to alleviate the consequent suffering? America comprises 5% of the world's population. How would we feel if the other 95% put in place a system that ensured their continued growth at our expense, and then called us lazy for not keeping up?
Far from being 'free', this system is actually a very tightly regulated national banking system that is specifically designed to keep the economy on an even keel.
The Fed keeps a watchful eye on economic growth and inflation and if the former accelerates too fast it will raise interest rates to limit the latter. The consequence of this is that where market forces (the conservatives' favorite!) might at certain times lead to full employment, the Fed actively and deliberately prevents this from happening so as to control inflation.
There are arguably universal benefits since inflation does harm the poor as well as the rich. But let's not forget that in a system where we are told that hard work, guile, and perseverance can allow anyone to get ahead, the government actively prevents some people from doing this in order to allow the rest to have a chance. An acceptable unemployment rate is 4-5% - many millions of people.
In the absence of another system, monetarism may be the best available. This does not mean, however, that we as a society have no responsibility to those who we throw to the wolves of the market in order to save our own skins. This 4-5% are not necessarily lazy or unwilling to work. Rather we deliberately hinder their ability to improve their lives so that we can have two cars and send our kids to college. We then decry welfare efforts that would mitigate the effects of this policy as encouraging laziness and dependence on the state.
Conservatives hate to see the money that they believe they earned solely through their our own hard work being given to those without employment. They should remember that their success is only made possible by keeping millions of Americans unemployed.
If we are happy to hold 5% down so that we can prosper, surely we have a responsibility to alleviate the consequent suffering? America comprises 5% of the world's population. How would we feel if the other 95% put in place a system that ensured their continued growth at our expense, and then called us lazy for not keeping up?
posted by Sparx at 08:53
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