Arthur Lieber in the Beacon

Arthur Lieber, running for House of Representatives against Todd Akin in MO-02, wrote a column for the Beacon about the government's role in job creation:

To succeed, small businesses need fertile ground in which to grow as well as protection against predators and unfair competition. Whether we like it or not, government plays the role of “traffic cop” in our economy; ensuring for everyone, including small businesses, that we are headed in the right direction and avoiding calamitous outcomes.

It is fashionable to say that the biggest problem that small businesses face is government interference. But what is one person’s interference is another person’s protection. An analogy would be the back judge in a football game who with a simple handkerchief protects the wide receiver from undue interference by the defensive back. Without referees, we would have mayhem; without the government, capitalism would be Darwinian and there would be only a few strong survivors. The interests of the small entrepreneur and the consumer would be left unprotected.

Read the whole thing here.