November 14, 2011
It is misleading to imply, as Morning Edition did, that Ayn Rand’s philosophy was about free markets. The idea of promoting oneself at the expense of others, advocated by Rand, is consistent with taking advantage of whatever support one is able to get from the government in this process.
For example, the top executives of Wall Street banks are happy to take advantage of the implicit government guarantee given to too-big-to-fail banks as well as the explicit guarantee that is given through deposit insurance in addition to the support given by the Federal Reserve Board through access to its discount window and other facilities. It is politically advantageous for people who benefit from these and other types of government support to claim that they are advocates of free markets even if it is not true.
Comments