No task you hope the government to perform will ever be done. Government's "cure" is always worse than the original ill, and when government's intervention inevitably creates more problems than it "solves", then it creates excuses for the further power and money grab.You hope the government will prevent monopolization, evil big corporations ending free competition? But involving the government is the worst possible "solution". For one, you give the government powers to decide, which corporations are good and wich are evil. The power corrupts. To err is human. You gave more power to government and you created for human beings positions of power. The government that you hoped will control monopolization instead inevitably will pick sides in exchange for favors, so you created the crony capitalism, you created "too big to fail" system that promotes any reckless decisions by the corporations to be bailed out, you weakened the free market forces and, thus, you've worsened the outcome of all processes in economy and society. So, who will then prevent monopolization? An open free market, a global village, where on the global scale even immobile big corporations are small, and small, mobile and resourseful companies can get an edge of advantage. Open the market and close the government (keep it only for foreign affairs). After so many years of always harmful government interventions there are accumulated many imbalances, disproportions and inner pressures within the country. Some catharsis, some purge, some cleaning is inevitable. "Too big too fail" in reality means "Too big to exist". Even in the US with it's traditions of enterpreneurship many "Too big to fail" behemots will fall apart to the bricks when exposed to the global Free Market competition. Then the invisible hand of Free Market will build from these bricks, from the ashes a Phoenix of the renewed America, again the country of freedom, prosperity and greatness. Virtually any area of human activity is best managed by self-regulation with feedback loop, by freedom, by free market. Government as a tool of coercion has no or minimal feed back loop, thus, any government interference inevitably hurts the self-regulation and worsens the outcome. Government is doomed to do wrong anything it tries just by the government's coercive nature.
We just must learn the fact, the axiom that there is nothing a government can fix, nothing good a government can do, that government is our enemy, a necessary evil, that should be given ONLY tasks that Free Market cannot do (yet), which is border protection and foreign affairs. Even here government is doomed to do a lousy job, but until the good magician of Free Market is up to the task we have to hire a mercenary,our enemy government, to fill the gap. Obviously, hiring private companies like "Blackwater" based on the free competition bids would protect our borders much better than Obama's regime, which not only doesn't fulfill its duty to protect our borders from criminals, islamic terrorists and illegals but even hinders Arizona's and Texas' efforts to protect the border. The only duty a government performs quite well is a duty of the people's enemy. Popular sovereignty, direct popular diplomacy, popular self-governance is the best possible way to optimize the dynamic stability processes and their outcomes in economy and society. Unintended "consequences" of Free Market are freedom, self-respect, self-reliance, prosperity and true progress. Unintended consequences of redistributionist "social justice" are poverty, moral crisis with the losers on welfare and parasites in the government and totalitarianism. Freedom is the only thing that made America great and freedom, particularly free market, will make America great again, if we, the people, will defeat our enemy Big Government in November, 2010.
XII. Current situation and developing trends in the US & in the world
Current situation doesn't look too promising. A lot of countries fail because of the lack of freedom and too much government. Of course, their governments look for scape goats to shift responsibilities for their own faults, and blame the rich countries. Poor country are poor because they don't have free enough market, the freedom to make individual decisions, the lack of self-regulation with the feedback loop. Rich countries are rich because they have freer market, more individual freedoms and less opressive governments. Freedom is the most potent economic power, the engine of progress. Many in the poor countries like to think that "the rich countries got rich on the back of the poor countries", but there is nothing to get rich from– less free countries have so low GDP they cannot even sustain their own population, not mentioning to make someone else rich. You want to become rich? Wrestle with your government, don't let it control anything in your life, get back your freedoms– and you definitely will become rich. Honkong became the story of success because the people made their own decisions and enjoyed the fruit of their hard labor themselves. Free and prosperous country consists of free and prosperous people. Thanks to the Honkong, the mainland China followed its lead in some degree, and with more freedom, with freer market the China's standing improved proportionally to the degree of freedom. You want more prosperity? Get more freedom from your government. So far the best chance to prosper has India– it has shifted from the failed socialist redistributionism to the freer market model; it is self-relying system, building itself very proportionally with the minimal distortions; it has more or less reliable, predictable and independant judicial system and the rule of law. Unlike China, India growth is stable while China is a colossus on the clay legs: it disproportional, it's crony capitalism, it's like a snake eating its own tail for sustenance, which cannot last too long. In 20 years China will have the same demographic and economic problems Europe has right now. Idnia meanwhile will keep its smooth and steady growth, unless hindered by the conflict with neibouring islamofascist countries or their fifth column in India proper.
Unfortunately, the degree of freedom, individual liberties and free market is decreasing in majority of the countries, in essential degree due to the totalitarization of the world in the worst possible form (islamization). As you know, the whole Islam in its current form is based on the anti-humane Shariah law, which is the engine of the perpetual jihad against all other civilization during last 1,400 years, since the conception of this violent and intolerant ideology and practive by the first Muslim terrorist Muhammed. If and when the Muslims will reform Islam, removing the genocidal Shariah laws, then Islam might become a normal religion that can coexist with other civilizations.
One can break down the countries into a) developed countries with measurable individual freedoms, first of all free market, and high per capita GDP; b) developing countries that improve their position on the position above; c) stagnant countries with no significant changes; d) retarding countries that have their individual liberties, free market and, thus, economic growth worsening; e) retarded countries (such as Zimbabwe and Sudan) where the dictatorships basically took away all the freedoms, including free market, from their own people and, thus, took away all the prospects of prosperity. Freedom, particularly free market, and a right to make decisions for ourselves, is the only thing that can bring prosperity, but your own government doesn't let it happen because the free people need almost no government, which menas the ruling elite, the oligarchy will have much less money sticking to their hands with the decreasing degree of redistribution of your money. Yes, the people will definitely benefit from the more freedom, more productive economy, but the ruling elite will lose some of their money and power, and that's why they will block your attempts to gain more freedom from the government. It's the islamofascist Arabs' regimes that keep their population poor, not Israel. Just opposite– the Arabs should come to Israel to learn how more freedom translates into more prosperity and happiness for the people. But the Arabs regimes want to disdtract their people from the real culprits, from the Arab regimes and totalitarian ideology based on Shariah laws, and they blame America and Israel for their own faults. So, your main enemy, your main obstacle on the road to prosperity is your own government, your own totalitarian ideology. Control your government, reform Islam to get read of the Shariah laws– and you will be free and prosperous people.