Comments on: At World Economic Forum: "New Model" Sought

By: Daryl

Daryl — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:54:52 +0000

Government “participation” in the free market and implied “back stops” are what removed the basic tenants of capitalism; self regulated RISK management, accountability and “fix or fail” corporate governance in the the boardroom was removed due to the notion “too big to fail” and the basic assertion of “systemic risk”. These provide a “safety net” for the institutions and destroy any hopes that a market can regulate itself.

(FDIC) is a customer protection plan (insurer) and bankruptcy conservator, but has morphed into a institutional strong-arm pimp and real estate advocacy group acting like an owner of institions instead of a rgulator. The expansion of this entity will be greatly maligned in the future.

On regulation, I find it interesting that Barney Frank actually gets it ( I was convinced he was dead from both ends) and that is you can have 1 million regulations in place but you will never have the one you need in the future because someone is always looking to find the missing one.

By: Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. »

Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. » — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:56:33 +0000

[...] 1/29 Louis Carabini’s Inclined to Liberty, published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is a clearly-written series of meditations on classic free market themes with updated social science data. The New York Review of Books publishes China’s Charter 08, in Section II of which appears the following excellent quotation: “… Human rights are not bestowed by a state. Every person is born with inherent rights to dignity and freedom. The government exists for the protection of the human rights of its citizens. The exercise of state power must be authorized by the people. The succession of political disasters in China’s recent history is a direct consequence of the ruling regime’s disregard for human rights.” (Thanks to Tibor for the link.) Meanwhile, as we tilt sharply towards even more state power, Don Boudreaux updates P. J. O’Rourke’s classic title: Parliament of Pimps, not Parliament of Whores. And Robert Bradley, who also has a new book out (Capitalism at Work), reports on the World Economic Forum’s summit in Davos whose high-profile participants are looking for a new economic model. [...]

By: Richard W. Fulmer

Richard W. Fulmer — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:40:58 +0000

One of the main arguments by the capitalism-has-failed-us crowd is that had the right regulations been in place, the financial crunch would either have been avoided or its impact would have been greatly lessened. This point is little more than an uninteresting truism. By definition the “right” regulations would have ensured good and prevented bad.

The trick is to identify the right regulations, get them through Congress relatively intact, signed by the President, and properly enforced. That this is extremely difficult to accomplish is demonstrated by the fact that a lot of the “wrong” regulations were in place (CRA, et al), which is why we are where we are.

By: CGB

CGB — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:56:46 +0000

I hereby prescribe the mandatory reading of F.A. Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom” and also his “The Fatal Conceit” to all Davos attendees before they are allowed to register.