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30 days to a c government Rockw ell' s Thirt y- Day Plan by Llewe llyn H. Rockw ell, Jr. When Easte rn Europ e broke free in 1989, we all reali zed just how littl e thoug ht had been given to the trans ition from socia lism to capit alism . Mises had told us the colla pse was comin g, and we shoul d have been prepa red. As Ameri ca comes to resem ble a comma nd econo my, we need a trans ition plan here too. Yuri Malts ev propo sed a " One- Year Plan" for the U. S. S.R. We' re not in that bad a shape ( yet) , so we could do it in 30 days. DAY ONE: The feder al incom e tax is aboli shed and April 15th is decla red a natio nal holid ay. The 40% reduc tion in feder al reven ues is match ed by a 40% cut in spend ing. The budge t is still almos t twice as big as Jimmy Carte r's. DAY TWO: All other feder al taxes are aboli shed, inclu ding the corpo rate incom e tax, the capit al gains tax, the gasol ine tax, " sin" taxes , excis e taxes , etc. Busin esses boom, and the few legit imate feder al funct ions are funde d with an inexp ensiv e head tax. Peopl e who choos e not to vote need not pay it. ( Note: this was a mains tream view in the 19th centu ry. ) DAY THREE : The feder al gover nment sells all its land, freei ng up tens of milli ons of acres for devel opmen t, minin g, farmi ng, fores try, oil drill ing, priva te parks , etc. The gover nment uses the reven ue to pay off the natio nal debt and other liabi litie s. DAY FOUR: The minim um wage is reduc ed to zero, creat ing jobs for ex- feder al burea ucrat s at their marke t wage. All pro- union laws and regul ation s are scrap ped. The joble ss rate falls drama tical ly. DAY FIVE: The Burea u of Labor Stati stics , like the rest of the Labor Depar tment , is sent to that big hirin g hall in the sky. Witho ut detai led econo mic stati stics , futur e econo mic plann ers will be blind and deaf. DAY SIX: The Depar tment of Comme rce is aboli shed. Big busin ess has to make its own way in the world , witho ut subsi dies and privi leges at the expen se of its compe titor s and custo mers. DAY SEVEN : The plug is pulle d on the Depar tment of Energ y. Oil and gas price s plumm et. DAY EIGHT : All regul atory agenc ies, from the Inter state Comme rce Commi ssion to the Feder al Trade Commi ssion , are deep- sixed . Compe titio n is legal ized. DAY NINE: HUD is squas hed like a bug. There 's a build ing boom in cheap , priva te, apart ments . DAY TEN: The inter state highw ays reope n as priva te busin esses . Road entre prene urs price trave l accor ding to consu mer deman d. Using moder n techn ology , drive rs get bills once a month . Credi t risks ‒ and drunk s and dange rous drive rs ‒ aren' t allow ed on the road. Non- drive rs no longe r subsi dize car owner s. DAY ELEVE N: Gover nment welfa re is wiped out. Bums work or starv e. The deser ving poor find a cornu copia of priva te servi ces desig ned to make them indep enden t. Priva te chari ty explo des, as the Ameri can peopl e, alrea dy the most gener ous in the world , find their incom es almos t doubl ed, thank s to the tax cuts. DAY TWELV E: The Feder al Reser ve close s its open- marke t opera tions and stops prote cting the banki ng indus try from compe titio n. But banks can now engag e in all the non- bank finan cial activ ities previ ously forbi dden to them. The busin ess cycle , which is cause d by monet ary expan sion throu gh the credi t marke ts, is liqui dated . DAY THIRT EEN: Feder al depos it insur ance is scrap ped. All insur ed depos its are redee med from feder al asset s, which inclu de the perso nal asset s of high- level gover nment emplo yees. The threa t of bank runs force s banks to keep 100% reser ves for their deman d depos its, and prude nt reser ves on all other accou nts. There are no more inher ently bankr upt banks propp ed up by the gover nment , at taxpa yer expen se, and no more bail- outs. DAY FOURT EEN: The shaky fiat dolla r is defin ed in terms of gold, with the ratio deter mined by divid ing the gover nment 's gold stock by all exist ing dolla rs on that day. DAY FIFTE EN: The feder al gover nment sells Natio nal and Dulle s airpo rts to the highe st bidde r, and stops all subsi dies to other socia list airpo rts aroun d the count ry. All const raint s on airli ne price s and servi ce cease . It costs more to fly durin g peak hours than off- peak, but overa ll, air trave l drops in price . DAY SIXTE EN: All gover nment regul ation s that creat e and susta in carte ls are aboli shed, inclu ding those for the post offic e, telep hones , telev ision , radio , and cable TV. Price s plumm et, and a host of new and unfor eseen servi ces incom es avail able. DAY SEVEN : Centr ally plann ed agric ultur e, as impos ed by Hoove r and Roose velt, is repea led: there are no more subsi dies, payme nts- in- kind, marke ting order s, low- inter est loans , etc. Farm price s drop. Entre prene urial farme rs get rich. Welfa re farme rs go into anoth er line of work. The poor eat like kings . DAY EIGHT EEN: The Justi ce Depar tment shutt ers its anti- trust divis ion. Compa nies, big and small , are free to merge ‒ up, down, or sidew ays. Stock holde rs can buy any other compa ny, or sell their stock to anyon e else. Margi nal produ cers can no longe r battl e their compe titor s with burea ucrat ic weapo ns. DAY NInet EEN: The Depar tment of Educa tion flunk s the const ituti onali ty test, and is kicke d out. Priva te chari ties set up remed ial readi ng and writi ng progr ams for the forme r burea ucrat s. Feder ally subsi dized sex educa tion and other anti- famil y progr ams go out of busin ess. Local schoo l distr icts incom e respo nsive to paren ts or close , press ured by a fast- growi ng priva te schoo l secto r ( which many more paren ts can now affor d). DAY TWENT Y: All feder al monum ents are sold, in some cases to non- profi t group s based on the Mt. Verno n Ladie s Assoc iatio n, which owns and runs Georg e Washi ngton 's home. The VFW buys the Vietn am memor ial. There is much biddi ng for the Jeffe rson and Washi ngton monum ents. Nobod y wants FDR' s, so it's torn down and the land sold to a farme r. ( With the feder al gover nment cut back to its const ituti onal size, much of Washi ngton rever ts to produ ctive uses like agric ultur e, as in late 18th centu ry. ) DAY TWENT Y- ONE: The compu teriz ed finan cial and polit ical dossi er maint ained by the gover nment on every Ameri can is erase d. The publi c wande rs throu gh the feder al offic es to make sure, in a repri se of the East Berli ners' visit s to Stasi headq uarte rs. DAY TWENT Y- TWO: Equal right s are grant ed to all Ameri cans, even membe rs of non- victi m group s. There is no affir mativ e actio n, no quota s, no set- aside s, no publi c incom modat ions laws. Priva te prope rty and freed om of assoc iatio n are fully resto red. DAY TWENT Y- THREE : The EPA is clean ed out, with all " clean air" and simil ar big- gover nment laws repea led. Ten thous and lawye rs leap from their balco nies. Priva te prope rty is estab lishe d in air and water . Ameri cans harme d by pollu tion are free to sue the pollu ters, who are no longe r prote cted by the feder al gover nment . DAY TWENT Y- FOUR: Ameri cans are given compl ete freed om of contr act, resto ring ratio nalit y to malpr actic e and produ ct liabi lity law. DAY TWENT Y- FIVE: Gover nment scram bles for more asset s to sell ( i. e., the Natio nal Zoo, also known as Washi ngton , D. C.) to pay off the liabi litie s of the priva tized Socia l Secur ity syste m. DAY TWENT Y- SIX: Porno artis ts have to earn their own livin gs, as the Natio nal Endow ment for the Arts tries to raise its budge t throu gh sidew alk paint ing sales . DAY TWENT Y- SEVEN : Forei gn aid is outla wed as uncon stitu tiona l, unjus t, and un- econo mic. Forei gn polit ician s have to steal their own money . The World Bank, IMF, and Unite d Natio ns close their super - luxur ious doors . DAY TWENT Y- EIGHT : The Ameri can peopl e are given the unres trict ed right to keep and bear arms. DAY TWENT Y- NINE: The Defen se Depar tment is reori ented towar ds defen se. Ameri can troop s come home from all aroun d the world . We adopt a polic y of armed neutr ality , remem berin g the Found ing Fathe rs' teach ing that we could not have an empir e abroa d and a const ituti onal repub lic at home. DAY THIRT Y: All tarif fs, quota s, and trade agree ments are put throu gh the shred der. Ameri cans can trade with anyon e in the world , witho ut barri ers or subsi dies. Japan ese car price s drop an immed iate 25%. In just 30 exhil arati ng days, we have estab lishe d the outli nes of free marke t. Radic al? Maybe so. Me, I can' t wait until Month Two. This artic le appea red in The Free Marke t for March 1991. Augus t 30, 2007 Llewe llyn H. Rockw ell, Jr. [ send him mail] is presi dent of the Ludwi g von Mises Insti tute in Aubur n, Alaba ma |
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Socialism has failed everywhere and is a great hindrance on the economy
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why would you be against capitalism. It is the one system that works.
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