 The ultimate constraint that we all face is knowledge — what we know and don't know. ... Neither you nor the U.S. Congress has the complete knowledge to know exactly what's best for you. ... There is only one reason for the forcible transference of decision-making authority over important areas of our private lives to elite decision-makers in Congress and government bureaucracies. Doing so confers control, power, wealth and revenue to society's elite.
Walter Williams
The Pretense of Knowledge
The Federal Register, which lists new regulations, annually averaged 72,844 pages between 1977 and 1980. During the Reagan years, the average fell to 54,335. During the Bush I years, they rose to 59,527, to 71,590 during the Clinton years and rose to a record of 75,526 during the Bush II years. Employees in government regulatory agencies grew from 146,139 in 1980 to 238,351 in 2007, a 63 percent increase. In the banking and finance industries, regulatory spending between 1980 and 2007 almost tripled, rising from $725 million to $2.07 billion. So here's my question: What are we to make of congressmen, talking heads and news media people who tell us the financial meltdown is a result of deregulation and free markets? Are they ignorant, stupid or venal?
Walter Williams
http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2009/01/14/congress_financial_mess
Ignorance Reigns Supreme
Walter Williams
http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/12/03/ignorance_reigns_supreme
...we've become a nation of thieves...
Walter Williams
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/wwilliams/2008/wew_11191.shtml#
Liberals believe government should take people's earnings to give to poor people. Conservatives disagree. They think government should confiscate people's earnings and give them to farmers and insolvent banks. The compelling issue to both conservatives and liberals is not whether it is legitimate for government to confiscate one's property to give to another, the debate is over the disposition of the pillage.
Walter Williams
If we truly cared about our children and future generations, instead of demagoging about them, we'd worry more about saving liberty than saving Social Security.
Walter Williams
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