Political Crisis?

[intellectualammo]

Tonight, Kindle was reading to me Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and I came upon this passage, in the chapter titled "The Lesson after Thirty Years" (bold faced my emphasis):

In brief, the main problem we face today is not economic, but political. Sound economists are in substantial agreement concerning what ought to be done. Practically all government attempts to redistribute wealth and income tend to smother productive incentives and lead toward general impoverishment. It is the proper sphere of government to create and enforce a framework of law that prohibits force and fraud. But it must refrain from specific economic interventions. Government’s main economic function is to encourage and preserve a free market.[...]

The outlook is dark, but it is not entirely without hope. Here and there one can detect a break in the clouds. More and more people are becoming aware that government has nothing to give them without first taking it away from somebody else—or from themselves. Increased handouts to selected groups mean merely increased taxes, or increased deficits and increased inflation.

So, since the government is failing in preserving the free market, would it then be appropriate, perhaps more appropriate to call the "economic crisis" then a political crisis, or no?

[Pokarrin]

Tonight, Kindle was reading to me Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and I came upon this passage, in the chapter titled "The Lesson after Thirty Years" (bold faced my emphasis):

So, since the government is failing in preserving the free market, would it then be appropriate, perhaps more appropriate to call the "economic crisis" then a political crisis, or no?

I think it is more useful to describe a crisis in terms of its effects than its causes; both because it is more accurately descriptive and because a particular effect can have multiple contributing causes, and vice versa. For instance, the Bubonic Plague of the Middle Ages was exacerbated by the poor hygeine standards of the time, but it was called the Black Death instead of the Hygeine Crisis, as poor hygeine can also have many other effects that vary in severity, and also was not the only contributing factor, rendering the appellation less meaningful and accurate. We should probably just content ourselves with 'economic crisis' and go on to describe political ineptitude and general confusion regarding the science of economics as contributing causes.

[intellectualammo]

I think it is more useful to describe a crisis in terms of its effects than its causes;

I see. But combining the two, might be better still, one would get a politico-economic crisis.

[Pokarrin]

I see. But combining the two, might be better still, one would get a politico-economic crisis.

I might worry then about implicitly accepting the rationale of combining politics and economics, though I agree that in the present context they are in fact inextricably linked. You would have to be careful whenever you use the term to state your preference for the separation of the two.

[rebelconservative]

So, since the government is failing in preserving the free market, would it then be appropriate, perhaps more appropriate to call the "economic crisis" then a political crisis, or no?

I understand what you are saying, since the current crisis in our financial markets have been caused by political interference with the free market, we should try to emphasise the political nature. However, it is not a "political crisis" which implies some form of crisis in power and government; this is more of a financial crisis, caused by interfering politicians.

The point does need to be made clearly to people, who are buying into the left-liberal propaganda that this is the failure of the "free market." I must admit, I am rather pessimistic about this, given the Left's current stranglehold of the media, though there was a good article at mises.org yesterday suggesting it is indeed possible (http://mises.org/story/3313)

[Zip]

intellectualammo, I actually agree with you but I don't think most people would get it. It would take a fundamental shift in thought for the average person to take the time to trace the causes of this crisis back to its political roots.

It is much easier, and much more in line with the philosophy they are fed to blame the money (root of all evil), and "fat cats" (selfish greedy bastards) than it is to blame the welfare state they have been raised to accept and the selflessness they have been told to practice.