Logic and the Economic Crisis

The current downturn (don't read depression yet) in our economy provides a great example of an unfortunate "principle" for human beings: If the right people (or enough people) say the same thing long enough, we will believe it.

Thomas Sowell summarizes how this has transpired:

From television specials to newspaper editorials, the media are pushing the idea that current economic problems were caused by the market and that only the government can rescue us.

What was lacking in the housing market, they say, was government regulation of the market's "greed." That makes great moral melodrama, but it turns the facts upside down.

It was precisely government intervention which turned a thriving industry into a basket case.

Sowell goes on to explain (the whole piece is 2 pages) that government intervention was a primary cause, and government intervention (such as the stimulus) probably will not help the recovery.

I am intending to offer a crash course on basic logic (informal fallacies are the fun part) for my church folk. We'll look at some examples from misguided economic & political ideals.

HT: Matt Perman