Here to 'Help'

Politicians pro- mise they'll "help" us. President Donald Trump says he'll "create the jobs and future you deserve." President Joe Biden liked to say, "Help is on the way." I prefer President Ronald Reagan's: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" An economy runs best when government gets out of the way and lets free market competi- tion work. Economist Don- ald Boudreaux gets that, and it's why "The Triumph of Economic Freedom" is the title of his new book.

Boudreaux ex- plains in my new video: "The more we move away from free markets, the worse things become." Biden's spending increased inflation, and his administration gave billions of dollars to politically connected companies like Intel. Now, Trump's doing similar things. "Free markets are on the ropes now," says Boudreaux.

"It's really important that people step back, look at economic history ... they'll see that we pros- per more the more eco- nomically free we are." Now, people blame greed and free fewer stores will move in. The long-run effect will be fewer grocery stores in Seattle." Politicians' belief that they know better how to help people sometimes leads to absurd ideas, like a Minnesota legislator's plan to study the "bene- fits of shoplifting" because "perhaps people are relying on that ... maybe it's assisting them." "Let's then also study the benefits of pickpocketing, armed robbery and burglary," replies Boudreaux. "After all, those people get income from that." "These politi- cians just want to be kind," I push back.

"It's not kind to people victimized by shoplifting. (It) raises the cost of operating grocery stores ... which raises grocery prices that low- income families have to pay." More often than not, government tries to help but makes things worse.