Can the Government Run the Economy? | 5 Minute Video
With the smartest experts and the best economists, could the federal government run the U.S. economy? Could it keep America’s $17 trillion economy going like a well-oiled machine? Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, explains why no one person or group can “run” the economy, and why any attempt to do so can only make things worse.
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Script:
Is our economy a machine, like an automobile, a train or a power plant?
One constantly hears phrases such as the economy “is overheating” or “needs to cool off” or “could use some stimulus.” These aren’t harmless metaphors. They epitomize how economists have taught us to see an economy—as something that can be manipulated, guided or driven. And guess who does the driving? The government.
The government is supposed to make sure that the economy “hums” along at an even speed, going neither too fast nor too slow. But the economy is not a machine. It is made up of people, and no one can control what billions of them are going to do.
What gets overlooked, underplayed or simply ignored is the extraordinary “churn” in the activities of a free market. New businesses open while others close, constantly. In the U.S. during normal times a half-million or more jobs are created each week, while another half-million are cut. Entrepreneurs continually roll out new products and services, most of which flop. But those that succeed can greatly improve our quality of life.
What government can and should do is to positively influence the environment in which this hum of activity takes place through sensible taxation, monetary policy, government spending and regulation. And in almost all instances the best prescription for economic health is “less is more.”
Catastrophic mistakes by governments can poison the marketplace, as happened during the Great Depression in the 1930s, to a lesser extent in the 1970s, and then again in the panic of 2008–09.
The government’s recent mistakes have been compounded by tax increases and an avalanche of antigrowth regulations from ObamaCare, the Dodd-Frank financial services bill and all those Washington regulatory agencies, such as the FCC, the EPA and the National Labor Relations Board. If you want to understand why the American economy has been growing at the anemic pace of 1 to 2 percent a year, look no further.
Again, the idea of an economy that purrs along like a well-oiled machine hurts, not enhances, wealth creation because invariably, it leads to growth retarding government intervention. Which brings us to bubbles.
Shouldn’t the government, the argument goes, at least try to stop them from happening? Well, it depends. Those caused by misguided government policies like the housing bubble of the mid 2000’s, yes. Those caused by the free market, no. Bubbles have a bad name, but not all of them are created equal. There are healthy ones and unhealthy ones. The good kind develops when a lot of people simultaneously recognize a great opportunity.
Computers are an excellent example. During the early 1980s there was a boom in personal computers–followed by a severe shakeout, when companies such as Atari and Commodore bit the dust.
In the late 1990s a number of companies recognized the importance of search engines. Google emerged supreme with Microsoft and others relegated to fractional market shares.
For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/videos/can-government-run-economy
source
Dear government Please pass a stimulus that could help out low-income Americans and social Security people Please we need your help with the inflation so high we can barely keep up fact we can't?
“No one can control what billions of them are going to do” If you mean the US, the population as of this video’s upload in 2016 was 320 million. Do you mean the world’s overall economy?
In Germany, the power structure is equal between companies, the government and unions
This makes it so that the rich can't oppress their workers, and the government can do the things only government can do like make health care affordable, fund the police, the fire department, and public infrastructure like roads and transit
Yes, into the ground…. the government sucks at business!
No rules capitalism, corporate lobbying, no thanks.
And now Google search is almost useless. Time for its bubble to pop.
At first, I thought the title read, “Can the government RUIN the economy?” to which I answered YES.
Lmfao, many capitalist success stories (East Asia, the Nordic nations) had government intervention, although not excessive intervention either
Regulations specially related to labor and environment are often written in blood. An example of which is that radioactive, cacogenic and hazardous materials should be stored separately from the berthing quarters of the people transporting/handling them. Why? Because some company and/or entrepreneur it would be cheaper to store them besides people and many people died horrible deaths. Also unless there were regulations most of the people watching this video would have been working 60-80 hour weeks since their childhood.
This aged like fine wine
I don’t want the government to control the economy. I want the working class to control it through democratic decentralization! ✊✊✊
what an honest and completely definitely unbiased presentation
i really like that “the market is a billion people” it tells the story in one phrase. what is the population of America? seems the number isn't match? but that economy thing can be bigger than the border, including the allied and the enemy. what if, the partisan of that economy exclude the Americans is bigger than population of Americans? and being a partisan in that economy you don't need green cards, passport that kind of things, all you need is money. if you have money big enough going ro same direction, you can drag or u turn the decision maker in the US government. in a fiet money system 5% of these people can bend the government policy, grab the resources and 95% of the rest had no say. who needs a green card? all they need is the membership in this swamp social club, eyes wide shut. Aka money. not necessarily be USD too, it can be bitcoin or other countries currency.
can government run rhe country? sure they can, if they got feeders like this behind them for backup. look at the current biden regime, your votes don't count and they always have more money than all the US citizen together, because they can print their money using your wealth as guarantee. put it simple, farmers and dairy cows. van the cows break the fence in animal farm?
So the government is actually losing as many companies as they’re making. So the annual amount of companies produced? Zero.
No. Look at what happened in China, the URSS and even Russia still, North Korea, Cambodia, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela…
Socialism destroys every economy.
There needs to be regulation from the government because self regulation time and time again hasn’t proven to protect against abuse. There is no accountability when abuse of the system takes place
that wasn't the government that gave out sub prime mortages it was capitalist like this guy
2:50-Like Gamestop stonks?
https://youtu.be/4lc8aqj9fq0
Government could enact law to assist entreprrneur or even subsidized .the local industries
Example japan.south korea.taiwan.partnership between government and private industries.as matter of fact china is copying the japanese playbook.
can they at least try? lol
Government couldn't run a 1 hole outhouse without having it overflow before anybody ever used it
Jesus my intellect is alive. Finally after 20 years of thinking what the f*** are these human beings doing. Now I understand what I could never understand before. Socialist ideology caused the housing crisis. More specifically the government forcing those ideologies down our throats.
No one is asking for the government to run the economy. We are in dire need of regulation though. I'm really sick of this dog eat dog shit show where billion dollar enterprises get multi-trillion dollar bailouts while people starve in the streets.
The government can run the economy. They can run it in the ground.
A fascist controlled economy
Fantastic video. Thank you!
Got a Bloomberg ad, he clearly spends his money the best ways
The Great Depression was the result of government failure? What exactly was the failure? I think most economists say the failure was not enough regulation on the markets. And how exactly would we have gotten out of the depression without government? No other system of institutions could have produced something so large as World War 2!
i guess thats why china is failing while the us prospers
oh wait
The government have ONLY ever been great at TWO things:
1. Taking a cut from your pay cheque.
2. Sending people with guns to your house.
When corporations aren't in charge and people are listened to thats when change happens. We the people have no say while corporations pay $$$ average people can't make change, so change for the better of the people instead of corporations squashing change for the average person exist when they shouldn't!
The Federal Reserve controls our purse strings. They control interest rates and have no accountability.
Perfect.
The gov can't even deliver the mail.