Yesterday, after touching on the current economic problems while speaking at George Mason University, Obama outlined his solution: More government. More regulations. More one-size-fits-all, top-down programs. Paid for by taxpayers and the printing of fiat currency (inflation, anyone??). Fortunately not all have abandoned truth and reason for Obama’s siren-like song.

In a post about Obama’s speech on The Austrian Economist blog, Pete Boettke, Prof. of Econ at George Mason, warned that, “the regime we are headed toward without doubt is wreckless statism at unheard of levels.” But what can we do to counter such a threat? Especially when calls for immediate action are bolstered by reports that over 500,000 jobs were lost in December alone (though the article notes that “some industries were hiring” — government — but failed to mention that those jobs are supported by money taken from those who earned it).

Fortunately, despite the onslaught of Big Government love, Boettke and other freedom fighters have not become disillusioned. He notes:

The stakes are very high, and the urge is to scream and yell at the collective insanity.  Resist this temptation for quick satisfaction and instead take a longer term perspective. . . We have to speak eloquently, write effectively, and be relentless in our pursuit of truth.  If we do that, and do that everyday, we will be fighting the good fight against popular economic fallacies.

One of the most devastating and accessible critiques of such economic fallacies is Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, which is free in its entirety online. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you’re not familiar with it.

Think about it this way: Any government intervention into the market, any regulation, means that choices are being removed from individuals. That people’s voluntary agreements are no longer valid due to the whim of a politician. As Milton Friedman astutely pointed out, “Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”

The greater ease for information sharing available to us today enables us to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of mainstream news outlets (and government censors) and introduce others to ideas that call not for more government, but less; not for more power to politicians and bureaucrats but to each of us as individuals. And, coupled with the fact that economic freedom respects rights and creates prosperity means that we cannot loose.

For more on this, check out the Enjoy Capitalism, Free Trade Now!, Politics Hurt and Tax Slavery Sucks overviews on Bureaucrash Social. And for even more, check out the Economic Freedom of the World Index, which shows how prosperity is hindered by government intervention.