The Economist as Scapegoat

Government oversight and government meddling are two vastly different things. Government regulation and government management also should not be confused. Sadly, they have been. The "commerce clause" of the Constitution was used to justify the Interstate Commerce Act and countless other instances of government meddling and management ever since, and the economy has suffered at every turn. It well may be argued that the same kind of government meddling and management is what brought low the Soviet Union and it will do the same to us. The reason is that an economy is far too complicated for centralized control. Everyday, every citizen, even very young ones, make countless economic decisions that regulate the economy. They base these decisions on vastly different individual perceptions of needs and wants. Meanwhile every business attempts to understand and respond to these needs and wants, sometimes even innovating to create new needs and wants. How could anyone person or committee understand and manage them? It beggars the imagination to fathom such a thing and yet, they not only try but also try to expand their control. Even more absurd are the notions of those people who want such an all powerful government to take responsibility for their individual decisions. Like I said, it beggars the imagination...