The Bailout Sacrifices Freedom for Dependency

The author of this editorial is Jeff Sandefer, a special contributor to the Austin American Statesman. He seems quite credible as evidenced by some of his credentials; he founded or co-founded five successful companies, currently he manages Sandefer Capital, an energy investment firm. He was named by BusinessWeek as one of the top Entrepreneurship professors in the United States and earned a MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BS from University of Texas. His intended audience for this editorial is the general public based on his use of easy to understand language.

He starts his editorial with a statement that is scary, but true, “Throughout our nation's history, the size and scope of government has grown by leaps and bounds during times of crisis, financial or otherwise.“ He later goes on to quote Margaret Thatcher as saying; “You cannot justify your freedom based on today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average”. Those words ring true today.

The author also states that the political class likes to let the government “bail them out” if there is even a tiny crisis, especially when an election is near. One of his other statements is that people think free markets are “better” because “they work”, and not because they are free.

The author later says letting the politicians and the Federal Reserve “fix” this problem is like telling an arsonist to put out a fire. He also says that, “if the government backs off, the markets will clean themselves up.” Many of the economists agree with him. That statement is supported by Washington Mutual and Wachovia being absorbed by larger banks as opposed to waiting for the government to bail them out.

He closes his editorial with a quote from the great political mind, Benjamin Franklin, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Jeff Sandefer’s logic and evidence is good, his claims are sound and are backed up by the current state of this monetary crisis. In all, this editorial is direct and to the point. I agree with everything he says. A link to the full editorial is below.

Bailout Sacrificing Freedom