Send in the economic clowns

It’s hard to know exactly what to think about John McCain and his decision to suspend his presidential campaign to focus on the economic “crisis” afflicting our country. The political pundits, not to mention David Letterman, have wasted no time chiming in with their opinions, and I doubt I could add much of interest to the uproar in progress.

What I can do is suggest that much of that uproar is misplaced. The question isn’t whether it’s right or wrong for McCain to rush back to Washington as Congress weighs action to prop up the financial markets. The real question is why politicians of all stripes – including Democratic candidate  Barack Obama – feel the need to apply more and more governmental controls to financial dealings in the private sector.

As conservative columnist George Will wrote this week, “Remember that government control of capital is government control of capitalism.” Yet the federal government is as powerless to stop this latest meltdown as it is to force oil-producing countries to increase their output in a bid to lower skyrocketing gasoline prices.

That won’t stop Congress from trying, however, and wasting billions of dollars in the process. That’s because people are hurting and demand prompt action, even if they’re as clueless about economics as elected officials. There will be massive infusions of government capital, accusations of “bailouts for the rich” and little to no understanding of how all that hand-wringing will barely register in the global marketplace.

A free-market economy that’s truly free will send people to the poorhouse as readily as it makes them multimillionaires. It’s disconcerting and painful when it happens on a massive scale, but it’s foolish to think that government can wave its magic wand and make it all better.