“The curious task of economics,” Hayek famously wrote in “The Fatal Conceit,” which he published in 1988, “is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design,” WSJ tells MHProNews.
Decades ago the economist was expressing thoughts on humility and recognizing general lack of knowledge on certain subjects, like economics.
There is no doubts that government policies are intend to benefit the people. The Wall Street Journal cites Dod-Frank and the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as ObamaCare), explaining in the latter case that the “mandates, restrictions, prohibitions, taxes and subsidies[of the legislation] are meant to make health insurance universally available.” Only three percent of the 16% of Americans without health insurance have received coverage, instead of benefiting millions as it was planned by the government passing the law.
Not only did very few people access insurance, but those who did also saw their list of available care providers diminished and are complied to paying high premiums. In addition to people, the law hurt businesses themselves. With the help of ObamaCare, only three percent of employers were able to hire more workers, per the WSJ. Where few hires occur, they are often “capped at 29 hours, not coincidentally just one hour less than the definition of “full time” under the ACA.”
Obamacare is not to be singled out. The same kind of consequences can be observed on the Dodd-Frank law regulating American banks. When new rules were to protect banks, the “nearly 400 new regulations, [slap] the industry with more than $20 billion in new compliance costs.” Manufactured housing professionals are keenly aware of these regulations and their impact, which some whisper will cause a lender to exit the MH space.
In short, the lack of knowledge showed by policy makers shows through what economists call “unintended consequences.”
Hayek’s work certainly influenced other economic thinkers today, consider this quote from Walter Williams:
“A right, such as a right to free speech, imposes no obligation on another, except that of non-interference. The so-called right to health care, food or housing, whether a person can afford it or not, is something entirely different; it does impose an obligation on another.
If one person has a right to something he didn’t produce, simultaneously and of necessity it means that some other person does not have right to something he did produce. That’s because, since there’s no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, in order for government to give one American a dollar, It must, through intimidation, threats and coercion, confiscate that dollar from some other American.“##
(Hayek photo credit, Wikipedia)
(Article submitted by Lucine Colignon to Daily Business News – MHProNews)
