MY PHILOSOPHY ON GOVERNMENT

I am an unashamed capitalist, who believes that societies and economies are at their best when they are run as much as possible based on free market principles. However, markets by themselves often do not take into consideration three important perspectives: 1) a long-term perspective, 2) a communal perspective, and 3) a moral perspective. That is to say, free markets, if left to themselves, will undervalue the long-term compared to the short-term, the communal compared to the individual, and the moral compared to the amoral.

These market failures (or, I should say, inadequacies) present opportunities for government to play a role – not to replace the free market mechanism, but to supplement it so that it works effectively and factors in the three aforementioned considerations. The environment, suburban sprawl, and social programs for the needy are three examples of issues that should neither be left to free markets to resolve nor taken completely away from free market mechanisms.

Rather, on these and other related topics, a government that facilitates capitalism, and that ensures that the long-term, communal, and moral are incorporated into its free market dynamics, is doing right by its citizens and is best safeguarding a healthy economy and a just society.