Emma Tyler, Chapter 4, Question #5

Chapter 4 of Naked Economics is entitled "Government and the Economy II." The previous chapter ("Government and the Economy") was all about the positive aspects of government involvement in the economy, while this chapter focused on the negative aspects. The question of whether or not the government should be involved in economic decisions is quite the controversial topic. It seems that nowadays many people correlate conservative Republicans with lessened government involvement stance and liberal Democrats with more government involvement regarding economic decisions (large generalization). As much as I would have liked for Wheelan to finally come to make a statement at the end of the chapter saying: "If you were a smart, economically thinking citizen, you would think blankity-blank-blank about government involvement", he does not. Wheelan simply says "Is the role that government plays in the United States economy too big too small, or just about right? I can finally offer a simple. straightforward, and unequivocal answer: It depends on who you ask." (100) Some economists think the government plays too large of a role already, others think that it doesn't play a large enough role, and still others think it is somewhere in between at the moment. I can safely say that after finishing this chapter I am more confused about my view of government involvement because I have now seen a glimpse of both side's arguments. I don't quite know where I stand as of right now on my opinion of government involvement, but I do know that there are positive aspects to government involvement (that are very necessary sometimes), and negative aspects. I am just not quite sure how (or even if it is possible) to create a healthy balance that would also make everyone happy at the end of the day. Economists have it tough.