Government Regulation: Dragging Us Forward?

Continuously Americans across the country rail and shout against government regulation and call it socialistic or un-American. ^{[1] [2]}  Many continuously press their claim that regulation and "big government" go completely against American ideals and morals.  However, multitudes still relish in the benefits of various government programs such as the post office, public library systems, public transit and roads, public school systems, welfare, social security, unemployment benefits, and so on. Others benefit indirectly from other forms of regulation and government intervention, such as the enforcement of food quality standards and safety regulations to avoid disease and illness, equal opportunity laws that help prevent racial discrimination, or educational grants to help those less privileged afford education and so on. ^{[3] [4]}  In today's society, most people believe the government should be involved in the economy less but provide more -- seemingly contradictory opinions that simply two sides of the same issue.

When economic crisis hit the American economy in late 2008, anger towards corporate greed and corruption was at its height.  President Bush then signed TARP into law on October 3, 2008, allowing the US Treasury to purchase $700 billion in troubled assets from failing corporations.^[5]  Many Americans believed some companies were "to big to fail" and failure to act would be so devastating to our economy that it might take years or decades to recover; the 2010 poll from CNN supports this trend.  However, earlier that year, a similar Gallup poll asking if government regulated business too much, the results were quite the opposite.  That poll shows that many believed that the government was imposing too much regulation on businesses.  It would seem either that American opinions are very capricious, or that these two polls are in conflict and one must be wrong.

The obvious answer would be that there were poor questions, or leading questions eliciting a desired result.  This could account for some of the differences between the polls.  The general trend of American beliefs over the past 15-20 years has been that too much government regulation of the economy exists.^[6]  So the results of the older Gallup poll would be expected, since their question about today's economy was more general, asking if we believe we should have more government regulation in business.  The CNN Poll, however, asked a question specifically about the government bailout of banks and other corporations, which was much more specific.  During a time of crisis, people tend to lean more towards expanding the power of the national government to help fix the problem.^[7] These more specific questions about dramatic changes in the economy would give the respondents more incentive to say that it was necessary to bailout business (and in turn increase regulation) because it was a time of crisis.

This puts politicians into a peculiar situation.  With the majority of Americans leaning towards a smaller national government, most politicians will vote down bills to increase national government to stay elected.  Even though evidence of the problems might be present before the crisis hits, without a "crisis" to give them reason to, many politicians won't implement necessary regulations to protect the American people until AFTER the time of need.  This delayed reactions to these incidents creates a domino effect that runs down the line eventually reacting the American people in one way or another, whether it be through paying for bailouts or the effects of a crushed economy.  So this inaction of politicians due to rather inaccurate polling can hurt the economy and by relation, the American people.

Henry David Thoreau said, "The government is best which governs least."^[8]  Many take this to heart and fervently stand for the separation of government from the economy as a long term solution to economic growth, yet turn to the government to fix the problem when it fails.  Together, times of growth as well as times of protected and regulated economy can at times be necessary towards the strengthening of the economy.  This odd situation in which our system operates is the main reason why polls today may report seemingly contradictory information yet still be just as correct.

James Evan Woods

[1] http://marketurbanism.com/2010/12/24/calling-your-opponents-socialists-and-un-american-is-as-american-as-skyscrapers/
[2] http://picklyman.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/obama-orders-study-on-socialism/
[3] http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/keep-your-government-hands-off-my-government-programs/
[4] http://www.benefits.gov/
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARP
[6] http://www.gallup.com/poll/123101/americans-likely-say-government-doing-too-much.aspx
[7] Dr. Quin Monson, February 8-17, 2011, W111, Class Lecture
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience