In BusinessWeek’s “Debate Room” this week, I take the “pro” position on the topic: “Dear Government, U.S. Business Doesn’t Need You.” Here’s part of what I said:
Jobs are created by private businesses when they expand production, launch new products, and develop new markets. Government’s proper task is to protect the rights of these job creators (and the people who fill the jobs). That means enforcing laws against embezzlement, fraud, breach of contract, and all the other crimes and civil wrongs that violate the right to free, voluntary trade.
After that, government’s No. 1 priority is to butt out. Our lawmakers need to be pondering how to roll back the programs that stifle job creation. From Federal Reserve-driven currency manipulation that fogs up the economic prediction windshield to costly and demoralizing regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley that treat businesspeople as guilty until certified innocent and on to runaway “stimulus” spending that sucks capital out of the private sector, government “help” actually kills business initiative.
My opponent advocates economic protectionism, even higher spending on education, and other forms of what I call “welfare for business.” Who’s the winner of this debate? You be the judge—and be sure to post your comments on the BusinessWeek.com website.
Image: WikiMedia Commons
Ayn Rand was an uncompromising defender of laissez-faire capitalism, which, she held, means “the abolition of any and all forms of government intervention in production and trade, the 
A favorite cliché of coming-of-age movies is the irresponsible teenager taking the family car for a joyride without his parents’ permission. The climax is invariably a spectacular car-wreck, with the car totaled beyond repair. In such movies, the parents usually ground their children for the harm they have inflicted on the family by destroying its perfectly good car.
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