Free Market Delusions

It's not surprising, but nonetheless infuriating, to see self-serving columnists flogging capitalist mythology while the economy slowly sinks millions of Americans--and that's before the current meltdown, and all we had was rising income disparity and millions of uninsured Americans going broke because of growing health costs.

Forbes columnists Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein, who are also investment advisers, today try to make the case that history proves that economies inevitably recover from recessions (and even depressions) without government intervention--what they term "catalysts."

After making unsubstantiated claims about the nature of the business cycle and bloodless remarks about corporate efficiency and new "skill sets" learned by labor, they conclude by lauding the invisible (and heretofore unseen and unproven) hand of the market:

As long as human beings attempt to better themselves and improve standards of living, and as long as policymakers don't compound problems, the natural course of growth will return in its magical and mysterious way.

In other words, Trust us, growth will return. Just don't raise our taxes or increase our regulatory requirements, because that would be intolerable.

Never mind that new regulations are shown to stimulate innovation because they force companies to adopt new technologies and processes rather than simply trying to guard their hoard.