Newsweek recently published a piece titled We Are All Socialist Now. The majority of the article is fairly objective and brings up the question of which direction the country is going to move in from here: American free markets or European socialism.

It is completely true that the conservatives spend as much as the liberals in recent decades. There is little difference between the two parties other than the rhetoric–if even that.

The American instinct still favors free markets and small government. That was how America became a land of opportunity for everyone around the world. As much as the socialists in this country want to convince us that the European style of government is better, we know it is not. The European system still stands because of American capitalism–free markets are the only proven means of bringing the most amount of people out of poverty.

My gripe with this Newsweek piece is towards the end as the authors suggest that “the answer may indeed be more government”. It is not the answer. The authors believe in the myth that government needs to stimulate the economy because people and businesses will not. The economy doesn’t need a stimulus, it needs to shed off the bad investments.

The piece further suggests that all the coming problems–global warming, aging population, energy costs–are going to require more government intervention. Of course, that is also wrong. The only means to solve those problems is to get government out of the way. Don’t make things worse by adding government.

Even more ridiculous is the suggestion that “the Obama administration is caught in a paradox. It must borrow and spend to fix a crisis created by too much borrowing and spending”. That is just insanity. The truth is, Obama must not borrow and spend to “fix” a crisis created by too much borrowing and spending. To do more of what caused the problem is ridiculous. There is no paradox; just stop spending.

“Obama talks of the need for smart government. To get the balance between America and France right, the new president will need all the smarts he can summon”. Unfortunately, no president or government or any individual can summon the “smarts” for this illusion of “smart government”. The only thing we are going to get is big government.

Markets are smart. The economy is trying to recover and Obama is only going to kick it while it is down. After Obama is done, we just might all be socialists.