Corporate Bailouts: Failure Not an Option?
One of my philosophies in life comes from W. Cleon Skousen, who borrowed from Adam Smith, that we should have the right to buy and sell, try and fail.
We’ve been hearing in the news a lot lately of the government coming to the aid of giant failing corporations and bailing them out. Is this right? Should they not be allowed to fail? Is corporate bailout a proper role of government? I don’t believe that the Constitution states that government has this power.
In the case with AIG (American International Group, Inc.) it’s the Federal Reserve that is offering the assistance. The Federal Reserve is not actually part of the U.S. Government, it’s a separate, private group, controlled by a seven-member Board of Governors. But it’s still closely tied to the government and only exists to provide a monetary role to the government. I, among others, would argue that we’d be better off without the Federal Reserve, but that’s a story for another day. From what I have read, this assistance to AIG will be in the form of an $85 Billion Loan. I just hope this doesn’t cost tax payers anything.
If it is the tax payers who ultimately have to pay for a companies bailout this is tyranny. Let the company fail. Let them learn from their mistakes and let the American people be free to also fail or succeed by their own merits.
When individuals are allowed to fail (and succeed) without government intervention the result is more freedom and prosperity for all because this ultimately leads to increased responsibility for ones own actions and increased Independence, rather than dependence on government.
Tags: corporate bailout, failure, prosperity, success