Friedrich Hayek

Politicians say they can “make the economy work better.” I once believed they could. But years of reporting taught me that politicians’ attempts to “fix” the economy usually make things worse. Twenty years ago, Republicans and Democrats helped create the Great Recession by telling government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more peoples’ mortgages because, as President George W. Bush…

Politicians have big plans for us. President Joe Biden repeatedly says, “I have a plan for that.” “I alone can fix it,” shouted President Donald Trump. But most of life, and the best of life, happens when politicians butt out and let us make our own choices. Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou called that “spontaneous order.” Thousands of years later, economist F. A. Hayek added that order comes “…