Freeing Citizens from the Control of Government

One way to analyze any political situation is this: to ask, of any action, candidate, or legislation, does this represent a step toward more control from the government, more interference and regulation of everyday life, or is it a step toward more freedom? Columbia University’s Professor Thomas Woods writes:

In this respect, Ronald Reagan, elected to the first of his two terms in 1980, was different. As he memorably observed, “Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem.” Reagan’s popularity, coupled with his support for privatization, his confidence in the American entrepreneurial spirit, and his belief in the moral superiority of the free market went a long way toward making these positions, ridiculed and despised during the 1960’s and 1970’s, intellectually respectable again.

Economists have documented situations in which deregulation has generated lower prices for consumers: telecommunication, travel, energy, and agricultural commodities. Prosperity for ordinary Americans is created by reducing government interference in private activity.