By Signè Thomas, JMI Intern & Florida State University Junior in Economics
Americans enjoy the freedom to engage in trade and commerce by virtue of our capitalist economic system. Free trade and free markets are economic freedoms, and as an Economics major, I am passionate about the importance of our economic freedom because it goes hand in hand with policy.Freedom to engage in trade and commerce means that the economy is guided by what Adam Smith refers to as an “invisible hand.” Government doesn’t need to tell us how much/what type of each product to make or to whom to sell it (as in a command economy) because the way markets work will determine these answers best based on the price system. Government will try to encroach in order to become more powerful, make citizens more dependent, and reduce the responsibility of the individual in order to be “protected” by Big Government.Keeping our economic freedom is essential to preserving liberty. If the government is allowed to step in and interfere in the private sector, not only will this hurt our economy since government is by nature less efficient than the private sector, but it will also reduce our liberty since entrepreneurs would be restricted and thus consumers would have fewer options. The only one that benefits would be Big Government.
2011
