Tyler's Turn Blog

The worst thing about John McCain's silly idea to suspend his campaign until an economic package is hammered out is that it's adding to the panic. Remember the story of Chicken Little? In that story, Foxy Loxy uses the panic generated by Chicken Little to get everyone into his den for dinner. And in a crisis, McCain is proving to be another Chicken Little (or maybe George W. Bush), running willy-nilly right into Foxy's den.

As Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) said, "I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot."

Or, what about Reason Magazine: "If we're talking about restructuring the next couple of decades worth of financial rules, the discussion probably ought to take as long as, I don't know, all the good conversation that went into passage of The PATRIOT Act or something."

Incidentally, Reason is 40 years old this year, and well worth a subscription.

Those who prefer a well-regulated, European-style economy are gloating these days about the meltdown on Wall Street. It would be easy to assume that the events of the last few weeks are proof-positive that capitalism simply doesn't work.

However, the current debacle reminds me of GK Chesterton, who said, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." Same could be said for capitalism.

The basis of capitalism is that it taps personal greed as a means to achieving the ends of proper distribution of goods and services. Capitalism works because most people are ultimately selfish. However, for the system to work, the selfish capitalists must face the consequences of bad decisions. Risk, not the Fed, is the proper regulator of a free market.

The problem with the United States is that the government always steps in and takes away the risk. Everyone knows this, so there's no reason not to overextend. The same is true of the way we distribute land. Build wherever you want! Spend however you want! The government will rebuild your house if a hurricane washes it away, and buy off your bad debt when the NINJAs can't pay.

This is not a free market. It's a free lunch. And, someday, someone will have to pay for it. Looks like someday soon.