Upside Down Economics

by Thomas Sowell - February 18th, 2009 - Townhall.com

From television specials to newspaper editorials, the media are pushing the idea that current economic problems were caused by the market and that only the government can rescue us.

What was lacking in the housing market, they say, was government regulation of the market's "greed." That makes great moral melodrama, but it turns the facts upside down.

It was precisely government intervention which turned a thriving industry into a basket case.

It is the daily litany of lies using bizarre logic from liberals that has left many people so frustrated. Government caused the current bank crisis by subverting rational bank decisions to force loans to people who were unqualified. Liberals claim that this government coercion was instead "free enterprise" allowing greed of the capitalists to damage the poor citizens. Government will fix the problem by regulating banks with even more onerous rules.

How can anyone believe these lies? Thomas Sowell, our most brilliant economist, explains what happened in clear concise language. How do we get more people to listen to him?