Political Oxymoron: Government in Moderation

“Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power. Government is necessary to preserve our freedom; it is an instrument through which we can exercise our freedom; yet by concentrating power in political hands, it is also a threat to freedom”. – Capitalism and Freedom

In 1979, following his Nobel Prize selection and in promotion of his book, “Free to Choose”, economist extraordinaire and public intellectual, Milton Friedman, in his Adam Smith tie, appeared on the popular Phil Donahue Show.  During his 48-minute master class, the perpetually happy Friedman educated a receptive TV and studio audiences on the ABCs of free-market capitalism. 

The foundation of Friedman’s economic philosophy is that everything that can be bought and sold in the marketplace should be, for the mere purpose of reducing what would otherwise fall under political means.  Since the government prioritizes coercion over voluntary cooperation, fewer decisions should be made under compulsion.  The sole role of the government is to create the rules of the game and act as umpire. 

In Milton Friedman’s 2020 updated book, “Capitalism and Freedom”, Friedman stresses the importance of economic freedom as a means to political freedom.  While the government may be necessary for some collectively shared goals, such as law and order, enforcement of contracts, and national defense, any further influence is best when it is restrained.  As such, government must be limited, and where it does exist, it must be dispersed. 

The role of capitalism in society is to organize economic activity voluntarily whenever possible.  This leads to increased prosperity and reduced inequality as consumers and owners create their own paths.  Capitalism is simply the economic freedom to buy and sell at will, with anyone, anywhere.  As a result, markets are inherently decentralized.  And since there is no centralized authority, markets rise and fall based on owner risk and consumer reward.  This system of voluntary exchange results in personal autonomy over the majority of a citizen's life, their homes, their food, their entertainment, etc.  As the greatest promoter of human freedom, the market works best when it is free of government interference. 

In a free market economy, wages and wealth are allocative, that is, they are apportioned based on skill and efficiency of the workers, with businesses elevated by their ability to satisfy customers.  Riches, therefore, are earned by merit, not chance, and certainly not government intervention.  Thus, income and wealth inequality are natural outcomes of a system based on economic freedom, by rewarding skill acquisition for the worker and consumer choice from the public.   Business monopolies in a free market are often short-lived when competition undercuts them or can maneuver to meet new demands.  As such, most industrial monopolies of the past fell to other competition, not government demands.  

Unfortunately, the market is distorted when the government intervenes by instituting tariffs, taxes, and price fixing, as well as interference in domestic policies like housing, wages, farming, and licensing.  But the government's greatest obstructionism in the economy is through its monetary policy, including the mother of all evils, the Federal Reserve.  Here, the government manipulates interest rates and controls the creation of new money.  In the 1930s, the federal government began following Keynesian economics with large-deficit-financed spending to control the economy. But government intervention doesn’t just distort market prices, but it also often benefits those in government the most.  It is folly to believe that any government action made society safer or better off. 

The government continues its growth on the back of a social welfare movement formed to address poverty and exploitation through federal action.  This mismanagement, including overregulation, has led to chronic inflation. 

As for the social ill of bigotry, discrimination is made irrational by the use of markets because markets benefit businesses that best meet consumer demand, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation.   Thus, by allowing buyers to buy and sellers to sell, no laws regarding segregation or integration are ever needed.  Those who wish to pay more by refusing to buy a good or service from a discriminated group can do so at their own expense.

In a free market, the economic interests of the consumer are satisfied by allowing them to make decisions for their own personal benefit.  In politics, however, self-interest is satisfied by gaining power for one's own benefit.  The misnomer that capitalism is exploitative and rewards the powerful at the expense of the powerless is not true.  Under capitalism, the consumer is king because the consumer is free to choose.  The more decisions made within the free market, the more human freedom for all. 

Since greed is ubiquitous in society, consumers have the power to pick winners and losers by their choice of consumption.  Citizens, on the other hand, have little power over their government, as voting seems less and less consequential with extreme gerrymandering and donor control over campaigns.  Like a seesaw, as one grows, the other wanes.    

In 2022, the Biden administration, led by big government shill Elizabeth Warren, prevented the merger of two low-cost budget airlines, Spirit and JetBlue, over concerns of losing an inexpensive option and higher ticket fares for travelers.  With just over a dozen options, air travel is heavily regulated by the federal government.  Yet, by May 2026, budget carrier Spirit Airlines would shut down its aviation services for good, following high gas prices caused by a government-induced war in Iran, and the failed 2025 merger that had hoped to create a stronger low-cost option for air travel.  Proving how government interference led to the very thing they claimed: the loss of a low-cost carrier.