Free markets?

Now that the elections are over, it’s time to assess the new landscape. I think it’s fair to say there no longer is a major political party holding up the cause of the free market. Blame the Bush administration for ditching those principles overboard the minute the economic balloon started sinking.

So now we can look forward to a host of government bailouts. First in line is General Motors. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports Nancy Pelosi will meet with automakers and propose doubling the bailout the Bush people are considering.

This is a bad idea. Some people think the bailout of Chrysler was such a success, but we’ll never know how the industry might have been strengthened if that never happened. I agree with this by Justin Fox, who says we should let GM go bankrupt.

I also like Steven Pearlstein” piece on washingtonpost.com.

The trouble is, these voices no longer are found anywhere in positions of power.