Sheldon Richman
Syllogism
- Government takes over regulation of an economic activity from the market process.
- Government regulation fails to prevent the bad it was intended to prevent.
- Ergo, the market is incapable of regulating itself, requiring more government regulation
Addendum: This, of course, can be made more general:
- Government assumes responsibility for the economy as a whole (the Fed, fiscal controls, housing policy, etc.)
- The economy goes through bouts of inflation and recession, and sometimes both at once.
- Ergo, since the market process cannot be relied on for self-generated stability, full employment, etc., more comprehensive government control is required.
