LR02:The Economy

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Liberty Revealed Episode 02 Show Summary

The economy does much better when the government stays out of the way. Libertarians believe people have the right to freely offer goods and services on the market and that free-market approaches are the most effective at improving people’s lives.

Listen to Liberty Revealed Episode 02

Liberty Revealed Episode 02 Show Notes

Welcome to another episode of Liberty Revealed, where personal liberty guides us in all ways! I’m going to discuss something everyone should pay close attention to—the economy. This is clearly an important topic for many reasons. As a Libertarian, I believe everyone should be able to freely offer goods and services on the market. I also believe free market approaches improve people’s lives in the most effective way. Some believe that’s the current economic system here in the United States, but they are wrong.

The Economy as Crony Capitalism

The United States is more of crony capitalism and that’s the cause of many of the problems we face today. What is crony capitalism? It is a system where businesses don’t thrive because of risks they take on their own, but because of a relationship between government and businesses. State power is used to crush competition through the way permits are handed out, government grants, special tax breaks, and state intervention over resources where the state controls public goods in a monopolistic manner. This type of system stole entrepreneurship and innovation, because both of those things reward risk taking. An example of this would be contracts for public works.

With crony capitalism you find the same contractors being awarded public contracts regardless of who offers the best price. The relationship between the business and government goes beyond a mere customer centric relationship into one where the business relies on the government to feed it more and more business.

The Economy and The Free Market System

I believe the government needs to stay out of the way of business and enterprise. The market should be free to operate and the people should decide who gets rewarded and who does not. This approach is the only way to avoid always benefiting the rich and the special interests. Those groups rely upon lobbying efforts to give their businesses an advantage. They use lobbying to get friendly with government, seeking regulations that favor their own bottom line.

Some say President Trump’s approach is a strong indicator of the existence of crony capitalism. The false appearance of \”pure\” capitalism is publicly maintained to preserve the exclusive influence of well-connected individuals. This definitely resembles the approach Trump uses. He offers up easy answers and free things without any regard for the details.

As a Libertarian, I default to Freedom on all things and that includes the economy. When we as citizens are allowed to run our businesses as we see fit, innovation and creativity provide value to the consumer. Without government intervention and meddling, businesses are able to provide greater value to the consumer and more jobs to the employee.

The Economy and a Limited Government Role

This is why I believe government should have a very limited role in economic issues. Government should protect property rights, adjudicate disputes and provide a legal framework for voluntary trade.

Government should not be passing burdensome regulations because those regulations keep new businesses from starting, prevent existing businesses from hiring more employees and in many cases, forces businesses to close. These regulations are not passive either. They stifle innovation and that affects all people in society. Forcing businesses to navigate a complex landscape of regulations drains the resources of the business. This also hurts us all.

As I discussed in our first episode, taxes are just as burdensome as these regulations. They equate to confiscating the property of other people. I advocate reducing and eliminating taxes whenever possible to free people and businesses to do what they do best, so that everyone can have a chance to succeed.

As a small business owner, I see the issues caused by the government being too involved in the economic landscape. It is difficult to grow when your profits are eaten up with regulatory compliance requirements. Even starting a business is expensive when it doesn’t need to be. The required licenses and government filing fees makes starting a business cost prohibitive for some. In California it costs $150 to register as a corporation. Once your registration is accepted they have several required filings that cost even more money. They threaten major penalties if those filings are late or missed altogether.

The Economy and the Cost of Regulatory Interference

Don’t forget the cost of enforcing these regulations. The US Government has created entire departments aimed at enforcing certain regulatory frameworks. These departments are staffed with a large number of employees. In order to pay for the regulatory enforcement, the government raises taxes, further coercing us to pay for things we don’t agree with.

Why am I not able to walk into an office locally, file documents that create a small business and then succeed or fail based upon my own merits? If I have a better product than my competitor, shouldn’t I be rewarded? Why am I held back because my competitor has friends in high places? Don’t you see how this is ultimately bad for everyone?

Yes, people mistrust large businesses. They make the claim that capitalism left unregulated would increase pollution and cause a host of other undesirable results. This is incorrect thinking. How can I state that with certainty? Allow me to explain.

The Economy and Free Market Letting Consumers Decide the Fate of a Business

In a free market society, the consumer decides who wins and who loses. They are the ultimate deciding factor. If a company is seen as damaging the environment, why not let the consumer continue to make the ultimate choice? Consumers who don’t like what the company is doing can stop giving their money to the business. If enough consumers do this, the business will fail. The free market system will have spoken.

The government doesn’t trust us to handle things like this, so they attempt to regulate everything. With a free market system, everything is controlled ultimately by the consumer. Prices are set based upon what the market says it will allow. Businesses live or die based upon feedback from the market itself. Consumers have the ultimate power through their own wallet. The will open their wallet for businesses who offer a mix of price, value and good citizenship.

It is evident that rather than have an economic system based upon tribalism, we should be partaking in a Laissez faire system of economics where the consumer rules the day. Such a system makes the economy more robust because businesses are rewarded for the risks they take. Businesses win when they provide a great product at a great price. Poor citizens are weeded our and put out of business. This system takes the guesswork out of things. Right now, those seeking to regulate businesses have no idea what people value and how much.

It is time we promote the rights of all individuals to achieve their personal and professional objectives so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others. Itbis here that government’s role exists—to be the arbiter and defender of our personal liberty. This results in a free market system that will expand the economy and inspire growth and confidence.

That’s all I have for you today. If you have questions about today’s program you can address them to info@yogispodcastnetwork.com. I would love to hear from you. Thank you for listening. Please consider subscribing so you never miss an episode. Personal liberty is worth fighting for!

To find out more about the show, head over to yogispodcastnetwork.com/lr. If you’d like a 10 page eBook explaining personal liberty from the Libertarian perspective, sign up for my mailing list at yogispodcastnetwork.com/libertyrevealed and I will send it to you free as my way of thanking you.

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