Atlas Shrugged and the Wisdom of Bailouts
I caught an interesting article today over at the Wall Street Journal reflecting on the prophetic wisdom of Ayn Rand's epic novel, Atlas Shrugged. I haven't actually read the novel, although I've wanted to read it for some time - I just haven't had the chance quite yet. I've enjoyed many of Ayn Rand's non-fiction books, including The Return of the Primitive: the Anti-Industrial Revolution and Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal. The Wall Street Journal sure makes me want to go out and get a copy:
For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
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