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June 7, 2002
Ed Crane on liberty, etc.
Ed Crane, founder and president of the Cato Institute and a man who has done more for the libertarian cause than nearly anyone, spoke yesterday in Palo Alto. Here’s some of what he had to say:
Cato’s values are: individual liberty, limited government, free markets, the rule of law, and a civil society.
Think tanks are a market response to the political correctness at America’s universities—which are supposed to be open to intellectual inquiry, but alas are not.
America embodies the idea of human liberty and respect for the dignity of human life.
The US Constitution strictly limits the power of the federal government. The enumerated powers doctrine holds that those powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution ought to be left to the states. Competition among states will keep them from abuse.
However, in 1937 the New Deal opened the floodgates and two clauses in the Constitution have been used to justify a dramatic expansion of the federal government. The first is the interstate commerce clause, used to justify regulation of all sorts—well beyond the original intent. The second is the general welfare clause, which is used to justify big government. Crane points out that you could apply the clause to just about anything—but this is clearly counter to the original intent because why else would the framers have enumerated the powers that of the federal government in the first place.
Crane points out that:
- The market is a discovery process and regulation, regardless of its merits, short circuits that process.
- It is a natural process for liberty to yield and government to gain ground because of the problem of concentrated benefits and diffused costs.
Crane noted the media’s wide-eyed credulity when it comes to the political process—who treat the horse-trading around things such as subsidies and tariffs as if it were a natural and rational arbitration of national will.
Believes the negatives outweigh the benefits of having troops in Saudi Arabia.
Crane feels that there are several positive broad trends from the libertarian perspective:
- Free Trade & Globalization. The evidence is unambiguous that globalization benefits the poor.
- Social Security. 2/3 of Americans support privatization.
- Education. More recognition today than ever that the education monopoly is a problem.
- Tax Policies. Where is the dignity in a tax code that treats Americans like gerbils. By this he meant the endless list of tax incentives, credits, and penalties designed to manipulate behavior. Crane is in favor of abolishing the tax code and having a low flat tax or a retail sales tax.
The problem is that the champions of liberty and limited government are up against an entrenched political class. He points out that campaign finance reform and redistricting are both measures used to protect incumbents.
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