Is The Sky Falling?

There once was a hen named Chicken Little. One day while pecking at a meal, an acorn dropped hitting the top of her noggin. Startled, the poor soul ran away from the barnyard cackling: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”

Racing for the castle to report this tragedy to the king, Little’s friends Henny Penny, Cocky Lockey, and Goosey Loosey joined in the hysteria along the way, all crying: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”

Down the road, they meet up with Foxy Loxy.

When hearing their plight, the sly fox convinced the chicken and her friends that he can save them if they’d just step into his den.

Once he closed the door, the fox had them where he wanted them, growing fat from the meals they provided.

Like so many childhood fables, Chicken Little provides some great wisdom that went unappreciated when we first heard it. And of the various versions, I chose this ending for its cautionary message of jumping to conclusions.

Once again, ups and downs of the economy are a natural, cyclical phenomenon. Without interference, indicators predict that the current recession bottoms out in late spring and the recovery begins in late summer. Logically, the theory of laissez faire should prevail.

Last Monday, former Czech President Vaclav Klaus warned that: “Massive government spending and tighter regulation would prolong recession,” cautioning President Obama that such interference will endanger the free market economy. Following the fall of Communism twenty years ago, the champion of the free market Klaus thought he’d never again see the extensive government intervention as he sees today around the world.

Hastily crafted answers and solutions by government come with regulations and restrictions on our lives, not to mention the onerous tax increases and debt placed on generations to come. From all appearances, several elected officials are taking advantage of our misfortune to advance their special agendas, some even admitting to it!

Are we to be taken in by Foxey Loxey and manipulated for his own benefit?

Stimulate the economy, not the government!