The Failure and Fallacy of Central Planning
Ironically, two seemingly unrelated articles in today’s New York Times reflect much of what is wrong with the United States, at least in an economic sense. One op-ed, titled “The Tragedy of Joe Biden,” is by Peter Coy, a regular columnist for the Times. The other one, titled “A Big Idea to Solve America’s Immigration Mess” is a Times editorial.
In his article, Coy expresses sympathy for Joe Biden. He says that Biden just didn’t get the credit he deserved for what he did in managing the economy. He laments, “He had some remarkable achievements when it comes to the economy, but he couldn’t shape the narrative around his own record.” Coy writes about Biden’s pride in having created more than 16 million new jobs and his success against inflation.
What’s wrong with Coy’s point? Like so many other people, he doesn’t question the notion that in the United States, like in other countries, it’s the job of a president to manage the economy. A presidentially managed economy is now just taken as a given. No one questions it. And if a president does a good job at managing an economy, he gets reelected. If he doesn’t, the voters reject him. As the adage goes, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
At the same time, most everyone is convinced, thanks to the indoctrination received in America’s government-managed educational system, that Americans live under an economic system known as “free enterprise.” But in a free-enterprise system — a genuine free-enterprise system — economic activity is free of governmental regulation, control, and management.
So, how does one reconcile the principle of a presidentially managed economy with a genuine free-enterprise system? One doesn’t. They are opposites. By its very terms, a presidentially managed economy violates the principle of economic activity that is free of governmental regulation, control, and management.
Where Coy and Biden and most other Americans go wrong is in judging the principle of a president
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
