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Invariably on economic threads we have strutting fools of libertarians envisioning themselves heroic Ayn Rand ubermensch, their iron jaws set defiantly into the wind, their capes fluttering behind them, sneering at anyone who is obviously so weak and degenerate and incompetent to be jobless in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. In short, spoiled, obnoxious children.

Business thinks only short term. Bean counters only think to their bonuses. Grownups who have actually lived and worked in the corporate world know that it is absolutely nothing at all like John Galt or Dagny Taggart so romanticizing the "free market" the way libertarians do is incredibly naive. The reality is vastly closer to "Dilbert" than "Atlas Shrugged".

It is society's job to think in the long term. That means making sure the economy serves society's goals, not subordinating society to shareholder equity. Buchananites understood this. They were the ones crying out in the wilderness when the Dow was 13,000 and the want ads were like phone books. They knew that "free trade" would wipe out whole sectors of the American economy, leaving only devastation in its wake. As things turn out, they were obviously right.

Business thinks only short term.

What a bunch of union/statist/socialist crap! I'm a business person. Cutbacks and layoffs hurt, no doubt about it, but they're usually necessary for the long term good of a company. You seem to have a woeful anti-business persecution complex.

Most businesses that I'm familiar with overstaffed during the booming late 90s. Should they keep on the extra baggage of employees whose jobs aren't really needed? It's not the company's fault if you're overextended and living paycheck to paycheck.

It is society's job to think in the long term. That means making sure the economy serves society's goals...

People who talk in these terms - the good of society over the good of the individual - should take their place standing next to the Hillary Clintons, Charles Schumers, and Joe Bidens of the world.

I believe in the free market because it takes care of itself beautifully and does so with a dispassionate lack of artificial influencing factors.

Those who would like to be economic social engineers no doubt have good intentions, but you know the saying about good intentions and the road to hell.

They were the ones crying out in the wilderness when the Dow was 13,000 and the want ads were like phone books.

In what fictional world has the Dow stood at 13,000? It's never yet reached 13,000 so this makes the rest of what you're saying look like nothing but a whining anti-business diatribe.