Liberty Maven

Bob Barr, in a Townhall.com published column, puts forth his own ideas for economic reform. He says no more bailouts and let the free market do what it is designed to do.

After several huge, government bailouts, and other measures placing trillions of taxpayer dollars at risk, the nation’s financial system remains far from stable. There is much more work that needs to be done before the economy will return to its growth path, but it cannot be more of the same, heavy-handed government mandates that have failed us time and again.

The ongoing financial crisis demonstrates why, first, we must limit political interference in the economy. It was sustained federal pressure to increase mortgage lending, through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, as well as the Community Reinvestment Act, which helped generate the huge economic bubble that just burst at great cost to every American.

Limiting political interference in the economy also requires limiting the ability of the Federal Reserve to manipulate the currency for political purposes. The Fed’s “easy money” policy over the last decade greatly contributed to an artificial increase in lending and property values. Unfortunately, it is the drop in those values which is the basis of today’s crisis. The ill-advised loosening of SEC regulations that had been in place to insure solvency and transparency in the operation of major investment firms, also contributed to the current financial crisis.

Read it all right here.