All economists and non-economists acknowledge the need for some minimum rules or institutions to govern and regulate economic activities. Even the most ardent public-choice economist would agree that laws are needed to enforce contracts and protect property rights. A liberal economy certainly need agreed upon rules. A liberal economy can succeed only it it provides public goods like security and a stable monetary system, eliminates market failures, and prevents cheating and free-riding. Although the primary purpose of rules or regulations is to resolve economic problems, many governments enact rules for political rather than for strictly economic reasons. As such, the most common and noteworthy feature of organized society today is the tendency towards governmental interference in every aspect of productive effort. Almost every useful human act from selling tomato to building a multi-storey cruise ship, is supervised, taxed or subsidized by some local or national civil authority. These civil authorities tax, subsidize, license or record in one way or another almost all activities performed by the people under their jurisdictions. There is a similar governmental interference in trade as it is in the industry. Some lines of industry or trade are helped with tax holidays, concessions, credit guarantees, and many other convenient measures, while at the same time others are burdened so to be made unprofitable.The Big Question is: How Do Authorities Determine Who to Help and Who to Burden? There is basically no real principle or method to determine who to tax or subsidize, support or obstruct, however, in functioning multi-party democracy, it is the interests of the citizens that should be protected. By voting, citizens exercise their duties of constituting a local or national authority. Citizens should equally monitor the elected authorities on their behaviour with respect to the way they moderate human activities using the instruments of authority - taxes, subsidies, licenses, permits, concessions or police, and take appropriate remedy.
Saturday, May 6, 2017
There is nothing like free economy
All economists and non-economists acknowledge the need for some minimum rules or institutions to govern and regulate economic activities. Even the most ardent public-choice economist would agree that laws are needed to enforce contracts and protect property rights. A liberal economy certainly need agreed upon rules. A liberal economy can succeed only it it provides public goods like security and a stable monetary system, eliminates market failures, and prevents cheating and free-riding. Although the primary purpose of rules or regulations is to resolve economic problems, many governments enact rules for political rather than for strictly economic reasons. As such, the most common and noteworthy feature of organized society today is the tendency towards governmental interference in every aspect of productive effort. Almost every useful human act from selling tomato to building a multi-storey cruise ship, is supervised, taxed or subsidized by some local or national civil authority. These civil authorities tax, subsidize, license or record in one way or another almost all activities performed by the people under their jurisdictions. There is a similar governmental interference in trade as it is in the industry. Some lines of industry or trade are helped with tax holidays, concessions, credit guarantees, and many other convenient measures, while at the same time others are burdened so to be made unprofitable.The Big Question is: How Do Authorities Determine Who to Help and Who to Burden? There is basically no real principle or method to determine who to tax or subsidize, support or obstruct, however, in functioning multi-party democracy, it is the interests of the citizens that should be protected. By voting, citizens exercise their duties of constituting a local or national authority. Citizens should equally monitor the elected authorities on their behaviour with respect to the way they moderate human activities using the instruments of authority - taxes, subsidies, licenses, permits, concessions or police, and take appropriate remedy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment