Should the Government Regulate the Economy?

[Steck]

So since our system is collapsing around us right now I thought this would be a good time to have this discussion. To what extent should the government regulate a Capitalist economy? Other questions that relate to this are: What harm does regulation do? What harm does deregulation do? Do taxes count as regulation? How much should certain income levels be taxed? Is Capitalism exploitive by nature? What other possible systems are there? How much social mobility is there in America right now? Does wealth trickle down? Discuss.

I might put up definitions for certain terms later (especially "socialism" and "communism" since those terms get thrown around too often)

 

[marthanoob]

So since our system is collapsing around us right now I thought this would be a good time to have this discussion. To what extent should the government regulate a Capitalist economy? Other questions that relate to this are: What harm does regulation do? What harm does deregulation do? Do taxes count as regulation? How much should certain income levels be taxed? Is Capitalism exploitive by nature? What other possible systems are there? How much social mobility is there in America right now? Does wealth trickle down? Discuss.

Depends on how bad of a shape it's in.
Regulation may cause businesses to spend more money on government mandated activities, and because the CEO has to have some fixed salary in the millions, lay off more people.
Deregulation can allow businesses to exploit their power more.
Capitalism is exploitative by human nature.
None that would work as well.
Social mobility...some. If the willpower is there and you try hard enough.

 

[Crimson King]

Regulation got us into this mess. The Federal Reserve Boards flagrant disregard for a free market and their willingness to inflate the dollar and print money freely drove us to this.

http://www.mises.org - This institute, named after the economist Ludwig von Mises, is one of the few, unbiased reporters of the economic crisis. Most of the speakers there are anarcho-capitalist meaning they really have nothing to gain, politically, by unstating how grave the situation is. Read it a bit, and you'll learn somethings from doctorates of Economics.

 

[cman]

Regulation got us into this mess. The Federal Reserve Boards flagrant disregard for a free market and their willingness to inflate the dollar and print money freely drove us to this.

http://www.mises.org - This institute, named after the economist Ludwig von Mises, is one of the few, unbiased reporters of the economic crisis. Most of the speakers there are anarcho-capitalist meaning they really have nothing to gain, politically, by unstating how grave the situation is. Read it a bit, and you'll learn somethings from doctorates of Economics.

I'm not sure that you can really claim that they have nothing to gain, or that they are unbiased. They share a differing viewpoint, and they want to see their views adopted, or at least want to prove the competing ideas wrong. Monetarily they may not, but intellectually they stand to gain. Whether or not those views are right, I can't say.

But would you take the time to explain the "Regulation got us into this mess" quote in a bit more detail. I've started reading The Failure of New Economics off the site, but have nowhere near enough time to finish it now.

I thought (though i freely admit that I have very little knowledge of the core of economics) that the lack of regulation on the type/risk of investments were what caused the market stumble now, and the buying-on-margin market crash in 1929. Enlighten me.

 

[Aesir]

Regulation got us into this mess. The Federal Reserve Boards flagrant disregard for a free market and their willingness to inflate the dollar and print money freely drove us to this.

http://www.mises.org - This institute, named after the economist Ludwig von Mises, is one of the few, unbiased reporters of the economic crisis. Most of the speakers there are anarcho-capitalist meaning they really have nothing to gain, politically, by unstating how grave the situation is. Read it a bit, and you'll learn somethings from doctorates of Economics.

Back in 1995, those company's that were being regulated were deregulated.

So how exactly is regulation to blame? when those regulations were removed they once again practiced bad business where the tax payers once again have to bail out these corporations.

I think you also need to take into account that there's not one single issue about the economic crisis that takes the blame, it's a combination of many things.