Here’s a letter to the Washington Post:
Blaming “speculators” and “investors’ greed” for the euro’s decline, the German government has imposed new taxes and regulations to severely restrict speculation (“German lawmakers approve euro rescue package,” May 21).
Each such restriction is to capital what the Berlin Wall was to people: an obstacle meant only to protect irresponsible and oppressive governments from the consequences of their irresponsibility and oppression.
By forcibly obstructing people’s ability to flee a tyrannical regime, the Berlin Wall averted only a symptom – people flight – of the East German government’s depredations. Likewise, by forcibly obstructing investors’ abilities to sell assets, Germany’s new capital restrictions avert only a symptom – capital flight – of the current German government’s unwise economic policies.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
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