One of the most annoying things about the troglodyte right is its celebration of “Tax Freedom Day” where supposedly you are no longer working for the government. As soon as they start saying that they don’t want to benefit from Social Security, Medicare, national security, food safety, environmental protection, education etc. etc. then we can talk.
But if we are looking for holidays, today — September 15th — should really be the candidate. It was on this day, September 15 2008, that Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke decided not to intervene to save Lehman Brothers. The idea was simple. Markets are completely efficient and modern markets are completely resilient. Firms that are having problems should go under and leave the field for more efficient competitors who will smoothly adjust like all markets do. Gotta avoid that moral hazard.
And it worked out so well! The market worked and there was no need for any government intervention!
So today is the day when we should all worship at the altar of the self-regulating free market. Maybe drive an old Chevrolet Corvair, drink water from the Cuyahoga River circa 1969, perhaps pay your parents’ medical bills without any interference from those pesky feds. Fun for all!
[Cross-posted at The Reality-Based Community]
