6/28/09

At what point do bailouts do more harm than good? II

There's something fundamental about the need for failure


 


We're tinkering with the genetic DNA of a capitalist society


 


Syd Finkelstein


Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions


 


If the natural cycle of laissez faire capitalism


revolves between risk and aversion


what should happen if government intervention perverts the process


to forestall short term economic pain?


 


If the government selectively subsidizes some businesses


could those looking to purchase homes, cars and energy


be obliged to pay higher prices and taxes to fund the subsidies?


 


The unprecedented aid to the private sector


 may also unleash new problems


the way antibiotics have generated stronger strains of bacteria


 


Before “failure” became an unspeakable word


entrepreneurs understood that most business ventures in America fail


producing acute lessons


that have helped make America fabulously prosperous


 


In the 1870s, for instance, there was a five-year depression


followed by a historic era of mechanization


that destroyed old industries and generated new ones


at a pace nobody had ever seen


 


Downsize the biggest firms


until they are small enough to let fail


 


Once they’re out of the way


better-run firms will be able to take their place


and free enterprise will no longer come with a government warranty


 


How Bailouts Can Butcher Capitalism


Rick Newman


US News & World Report


 


Does government intervention delay real recovery?

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