Market needs freedom to flourish

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for May 20, 2020)

The world's economy is being damaged by this pandemic, or, more accurately, it's being damaged by government reactions to the pandemic. The damage is adding up; getting worse with time. The only questions are: how bad is the damage going to be? and how long will it take to recover? I don't know the answers; no one does.

The economy will show scars of this time for years to come. Maybe forever. There are businesses which were forcibly closed and are never coming back. Whole sectors of the economy may die off from the damage. Sure, deadwood and weak branches were pruned away by the event, but there are some previously healthy limbs being torn off as well. The authoritarian shut-down was just more than some businesses could survive.

The shut-down may turn out to be an economic extinction event, like an asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs, and if so, there will be lots of vacant economic niches waiting to be filled. Perhaps they are waiting for you to fill them.

So it's not all bad news.

The automobile may have killed off the buggy-whip market, but look at all the new markets it created. We wouldn't have rear-view mirror pine tree air fresheners and thousands of other products if cars hadn't reshaped the market.

Things change. We will recover. We will be different; stronger.

Some economic barriers have fallen away during this pandemic. Mostly bureaucratic nonsense like licensing and such-- one example is letting doctors practice across state lines. Government may try to put the barriers up again when this is over. Don't let them. Anything which gets in the way during a pandemic also gets in the way during normal times, although it may not be as obvious. Use your new knowledge to oppose those barriers being restored and notice other barriers which should be removed.

Those who can adapt will do better than those who can't. Some people may be surprised to discover whether or not they are good at adapting. There are always opportunities around you. Learn to spot them, and find ways to act on them. This is something I'm not especially good at-- my hope is that you are better at it than I am and that I can learn to do better.

The market will prevail if allowed to flourish in freedom. Only political parasites would try to hold it back. Watch carefully to see which side those with political power choose.

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