Brian Blackwell
Senior Member
- Mar 10, 2018
- 994
- 129
- 45
- Banned
- #1
During political campaigns, a huge focus is the economy. But how does government help the economy?
All economy, no matter how complex, breaks down to simply trades between individuals. Employees trade their labor for pay, consumers trade their pay for products and services, etc. What can government do to assist in this process?
The only thing it can ever do is exert force on someone. This is its only power. Typically this comes in the form of interfering with the voluntary exchange between individuals. The mandatory minimum wage, for example, says that two people willing to make an exchange of labor for pay is not permitted if it does not meet the minimum standard. Many people see this as an increase in pay for low-level employees, but in reality, if I can only afford to pay you 8 dollars an hour, and the government uses coercion to make me pay you 10, I'm just not going to hire you. You were perfectly willing, even happy, to get 8, and I was willing to pay it because I could use the help, but by their interference you get 0 dollars, and I get no help. How could it ever be beneficial to step between consenting adults who are both willing to engage in a particular transaction?
Even when the government subsidizes a particular industry, they are not bringing new money into the economy, they are simply taking it from somewhere else. Government produces nothing, so its action can never cause a net gain. All it can do is take money from some people and give it to others. And it behooves them to do this in a way that creates a greater number of voters to look upon them favorably, not necessarily in a way that would help the economy overall. Like all governmental action outside the scope of basic protection of human rights, it's a matter of hurting one person to help someone else. And their solution to all problems always benefits them more than anyone else, either by generating greater revenue, gaining greater control, or assuring the maintenance of their own position.
Despite all the rhetoric, I don't see how government can ever do anything to help the economy except by simply getting out of the way.
All economy, no matter how complex, breaks down to simply trades between individuals. Employees trade their labor for pay, consumers trade their pay for products and services, etc. What can government do to assist in this process?
The only thing it can ever do is exert force on someone. This is its only power. Typically this comes in the form of interfering with the voluntary exchange between individuals. The mandatory minimum wage, for example, says that two people willing to make an exchange of labor for pay is not permitted if it does not meet the minimum standard. Many people see this as an increase in pay for low-level employees, but in reality, if I can only afford to pay you 8 dollars an hour, and the government uses coercion to make me pay you 10, I'm just not going to hire you. You were perfectly willing, even happy, to get 8, and I was willing to pay it because I could use the help, but by their interference you get 0 dollars, and I get no help. How could it ever be beneficial to step between consenting adults who are both willing to engage in a particular transaction?
Even when the government subsidizes a particular industry, they are not bringing new money into the economy, they are simply taking it from somewhere else. Government produces nothing, so its action can never cause a net gain. All it can do is take money from some people and give it to others. And it behooves them to do this in a way that creates a greater number of voters to look upon them favorably, not necessarily in a way that would help the economy overall. Like all governmental action outside the scope of basic protection of human rights, it's a matter of hurting one person to help someone else. And their solution to all problems always benefits them more than anyone else, either by generating greater revenue, gaining greater control, or assuring the maintenance of their own position.
Despite all the rhetoric, I don't see how government can ever do anything to help the economy except by simply getting out of the way.