The Economy Needs Ayn Rand
Author Ayn Rand's philosophy of rational self-interest is more relevant today—amid the flurry of government bailouts—than ever.
Self-Interest Equals Prosperity
by Onkar Ghate, Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
If Ayn Rand's philosophy of rational self-interest is irrelevant today, then so is the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration gave sanction to selfishness: to the moral right to live your own life, to exercise your liberty, to pursue your happiness. No more taking orders from king or society. Each was free to live for himself.
In works such as The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and The Virtue of Selfishness, Rand provided a philosophic foundation for the Declaration's radical ideas. She originated a moral code that broke with tradition. She believed morality's purpose isn't to command you to sacrifice your interests for the sake of others but rather to teach you the rational values and virtues happiness in fact requires.
The deepest cause of today's financial crisis is our distance from this ideal. Although almost everyone blames the free market, financial markets are riddled with government interventions. Participants are not free to pursue their self-interest. Instead, the government overrides this pursuit to achieve the "public interest." So it creates the Fed, charged with the task of somehow manipulating money and interest rates to create full employment and price stability for all. It sponsors entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which somehow will bring homeownership into everyone's reach. It promises to bail out financial institutions that supposedly carry "systemic risk" for everyone.
When this semi-collectivistic, uneconomic system blows up, should blame be placed on those issuing the orders or those forced to obey? To place primary blame on Wall Street is like blaming Russians for Communism's failure. The fault lies not in the people but in the immoral system in which they had to act.
To restore U.S. prosperity, Rand's philosophy has vital things to teach: what genuine self-interest and happiness consist of, why their pursuit is moral, and what political condition they demand—the full freedom of the Declaration. What is more relevant than that?
The Economy Needs Ayn Rand - BusinessWeek (8 May 2009)
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