Regulatory Commissars: Freedom = prosperity

(The Patriot Post) - Rather than focusing on practices that have the short-term appearance of increasing wealth (like tax “rebate” checks), the government ought to be working to enhance and strengthen the only real foundation for prosperity: freedom. In the long-term, income redistribution stifles innovation, encourages dependence and simply makes everyone poorer. As much as the demagogues on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail may try to convince us otherwise, the reality is that only free Americans can generate prosperity by working hard and investing wisely.

This basic principle of a connection between freedom and prosperity is demonstrated once again by the “2008 Index of Economic Freedom,” recently released by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. The report rates the levels of economic freedom in 150 nations, taking into account factors like low taxes, low government spending, property rights and courts that reliably enforce contracts. The results are clear: the freer a nation’s economy, the higher the average income of the nation’s citizens. The freest are eight times as prosperous as the most oppressed.

Specific situations are often complicated, but the principle is clear. The best thing a government can do for the economy is to cease meddling, to keep its citizens free and to allow them to keep their income and spend, share or invest it as they see fit. It is perhaps most important to remember this during an election season. Presidents don’t create jobs or wealth, entrepreneurs do. What presidents can do is make sure the citizens of our country remain free under the Constitution.