New at Reason: Jeffrey Miron on the Case for Doing Nothing

July 9, 2009

When people try to pin the blame for the financial crisis on the introduction of derivatives, or the increase in securitization, or the failure of ratings agencies, it’s important to remember that the magnitude of both boom and bust was increased exponentially because of the notion in the back of everyone’s mind that if things went badly, the government would bail us out. Indeed, lots of people talk as if there was no option other than bailing out financial institutions. But as Jeffrey Miron writes, you always have a choice. We could have, for example, done nothing.

Read all about it here.