Sunday, January 21, 2007

The Equality Engineer


George Will comments on Barney Frank who he terms the most liberal member of the House, and who is now the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

The Equality Engineer: Frank questions whether market-driven wealth creation is producing more inequality "than is either socially healthy or economically necessary." He favors much more government intervention in the economy to diminish inequality. Sometimes he means equal dependence on government. For example, he wants everyone enrolled in Medicare -- with larger co-payments for higher-income people -- in order to take health care "out of the wage system."

Three years ago, when unemployment was 5.8 percent, Frank outlined his doctrine of "capitalism plus" -- plus a lot of government -- in a House speech, warning that America was at "a major inflection point" where the economy's ability to create wealth is exceeding its ability to create jobs.

The Representative from Massachusetts seems to understand it is the uncountable number of individual trading decisions forming the market economy that creates wealth. What is disturbing is the liberal belief that a few special people can out think the masses. I suppose it’s the difference between umpires and owners. Government is needed to establish and enforce the rules by which the game is played. Barney Frank & Friends believe government is needed to divide up the gate receipts.