Parish
Too Big to Fail
RECEIVED Wed., Sept. 17, 2008
Dear Editor,
Conservatives speak of the free market as though it were holy. To them, it solves all problems and must be allowed to function without restraint. That is, until we need to bail out one of the biggies. You see, some companies (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns, AIG) are just too big to fail, they tell us. So, the taxpayer is forced to prop them up. Meanwhile, companies are buying each other up, trying to make it to that plateau where they, too, are too big to fail, and so have a government-guaranteed insurance policy.
Seems like if we want the free market to function properly, we should prevent companies from ever making it to the "too big" level, because failure is an integral part of the free-market system. Just ask the large proportion of small-businessmen who have lost their shirts at one time or another. Why not require every company that wants to merge or acquire another company to prove that it will not become "too big to fail.” Wouldn't want them to miss out on all the attributes of the holy free market, including the potential to fail.
And let's start identifying and breaking up the entities that are too big for their britches already.
Conservatives speak of the free market as though it were holy. To them, it solves all problems and must be allowed to function without restraint. That is, until we need to bail out one of the biggies. You see, some companies (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns, AIG) are just too big to fail, they tell us. So, the taxpayer is forced to prop them up. Meanwhile, companies are buying each other up, trying to make it to that plateau where they, too, are too big to fail, and so have a government-guaranteed insurance policy.
Seems like if we want the free market to function properly, we should prevent companies from ever making it to the "too big" level, because failure is an integral part of the free-market system. Just ask the large proportion of small-businessmen who have lost their shirts at one time or another. Why not require every company that wants to merge or acquire another company to prove that it will not become "too big to fail.” Wouldn't want them to miss out on all the attributes of the holy free market, including the potential to fail.
And let's start identifying and breaking up the entities that are too big for their britches already.
Ben Hogue
