Traduction du texte en Français: L’intervention du gouvernement ; le pourfendeur du marché libre

There is no doubt that I am a supporter of the free market – all the amazing benefits which come from it and the overall successful implementation around the world of the system.

So what is this? Well there are many interpretation of what exactly the free market economy is. This is my definition of the free market economy though – “It [the free market economy] is an economic system which is guided by the invisible hand which is controlled by natural market forces. This hand in the market is self regulating and determines in essence what will and wont survive”.

Before you say it – “Look, the free market failed in such and such a year, in such and such a place”. My response is no – it did not fail. Why so? Well the concept of the free market is that it works without external intervention in the markets forces. What would this external intervention be?

If we look at the most recent world economic crisis (which many nations are still working out of), we will see that the leader of the recession – The United States of America’s government began interfering in the economy. When government begins to regulate banks (look at the Clinton years and the 2000’s recession), problems begin to occur. The obvious example of this would be the government forcing banks to offer loans and mortgages to people who are unable to afford the repayments. When interest rates are artificially altered (as often they are), this leads to a state in which credit often becomes so easily accessible. This will without a doubt lead to a peak of what we call a bubble. This bubble is inflated through the affordability of debt.

Then what happens? Well the bubble essentially pops and the markets go into free fall. Government at this stage (which has done enough damage), attempts to fix things by making credit more expensive (lifting the interest rates), this creates the situation in which debt becomes overwhelming and debt repayments in essence are not met. Logically, this leads to the repossession of individuals, corporations and other bodies possessions. Corporations which expanded due to the availability of cheap credit now are forced to lay off large numbers of staff members which lifts the unemployment rate.

Many economist then suggest that government will introduce social welfare programs and projects (such as done in the 1930’s with the Great Depression) which will make the recession dramatically worse and more drawn out. Now that it is rather evident that this failure of the free market system, in fact is not a product of the free market philosophy, but rather an interference from external factors of the market, we are able to look at the benefits of the free market economy.

The free market economy in essence is a market system which regulates itself. It has no government intervention and is free of all forms of external intervention. This market system is driven of the natural forces of the market, self interest, competition and supply and demand. Such a market system is often referred to as the laissez-faire approach.
This invisible hand in the economy ultimately is controlled by the forces of supply and demand and in a situation of excess of the provision of supply – it results in a certain action. What is this action? The simple answer to this is that there then is an excess of supply of the certain product which leads to a reduction in the retail price, which in essence leads to a reduction in revenue generated from the sale of the good or service. This is the perfect example of how the market is controlled by the natural forces of supply and demand and also how they regulate the market.

This market system is driven off healthy competition. Competition is what creates the best product for a consumer. It is clear that people living in markets which are monopolized are receiving a less than satisfactory end good or service from the provider of the good or service. Why is this so? Well companies who operate in the imperfect market have no competition. This means they are the price choosers and they in essence are making the choices about the quality of the end good or service. This leaves a situation in which consumers are powerless. In the free market, the economy is driven by the perfect market in which consumers own the factors of production and they are the price choosers.

This means that the consumers have full knowledge on the possible goods and services that they could receive from alternative providers and this becomes for corporations – the battle for the revenue from the consumers. What does this lead to? Well it leads to a situation of healthy competition and this is better for the consumer. The consumer now has the option to choose a homogenous good or service from a wide array of corporations all competing to make the best good or service for the lowest price.

Self interest is the driver of any economy. I would like to clarify what this means to me. I look at this and think – thats greed. Then when thinking about it – why does anyone work hard? Most people will answer – in order to future myself, my position, my business and so on. The free market economy has the ability to cleanse out the weaker elements and in doing so – it often has affects such as business going bankrupt. This must happen – business must not be propped up by government. Those employees at such companies can go onto working for other organisations which are more powerful or they can – most importantly as it is the driver of economic growth in the world – start up their own business which is driven by the same forces of supply and demand and it powered by innovation which leads to new products. Necessity is the mother of invention, however this cannot go without innovation and dedication.

The free market, because it works on self interest, is where the worlds greatest inventions and products come from as they are environment which are supportive of such growth. The country that runs the most of such principles is the United States of America – however they have even failed at doing this in its purest form. In conclusion – ask yourself which nation has made the largest number of breaking news technologies? Then ask – what economic / government style was ruling at the time. More and more, we are seeing communist nations (which by no means are free market economies) – leaning towards a more free market approach. They are backed by the free market nations – what would China be without the United States (or other free market like nations) consumption?

They would in essence be nothing!

Recently I was reading the February 2010 Christian Living Today. My mother pointed out an article – “A no regrets life”. I skimmed over the article and then also researched it a little more and also put my own thoughts into it too. So this blog post is a combination of works of my own, the Christian Living Today magazine and a article called “One month to live”.

This post is titled  “4 universal principles to a regret free life”. I hope it makes you think about your life and how you could be doing things differently. However – in saying that – im not suggesting that you have problems in yours.

So the four principles are; Live passionately, love completely, learn humbly and lastly, leave boldly. With that being said – I feel it important to quote something that Mother Theresa said – “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much”.

Live Passionately

passion • noun 1 very strong emotion.  2 an outburst of very strong emotion. 3 an intense enthusiasm for something. 4 (the Passion) the suffering and death of Jesus.

“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” – John 10:10b (Msg)

This made me think of the fact that our time on earth is so short and that we should be looking at more than just what we have here on earth. What is of real importance on earth?

We look at how Jesus lived in his short time on earth – He forgave – even those who put Him to death on the cross. So the lesson I get from this is that we should be forgiving of everyone – despite what they have done to you.

I think of one of Don Francisco’s songs now. The name of the song is “I don’t care where you have been sleeping”. The words go something like “I don’t care where you’ve been sleeping, I don’t who’s made your bed, I’ve already gave My life to set you free; There’s no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love, And it’s all yours if you’ll come home again to Me.”

Jesus loved everyone and showed this in numerous ways. We need to love those who interact with us fully. This will be discussed in more detail in “Love completely”.

So how should one express passion in life? Living a life of passion means living life as God would of intended you too. God wants our lives to be filled and guided by passion for life and others. He wants us to be compassionate to others and he wants us to care for those who are hurting.

We often hear people saying – “Live today as if it were your last”. This has everything to do with living passionately. What will you be happy with facing on the day of judgement? Will you be able to answer for all you have done? Did you do all you possibly could? Did you take every possible opportunity to use what you were given?

Love Completely

love • noun 1 an intense feeling of deep affection.  2 a great interest and pleasure in something. 4 a person or thing that one loves.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ This is the first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew 22:37 – 39 (NIV)

When one thinks about love, our minds often shoot directly to the romantic kind of love. I tend to think about the kind of love that God has for us. It is unconditional love – love that is not subject to being loved in return. Humans do not have the ability to love like this, but we can try our hardest.

I want to love people despite what they have done to me – and this I try to do. We see that in Jesus’ last 30 days on earth, he loved completely. This we see in John 13:1 – “Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”

So many people, at the end of their lives have many regrets – many of which could be said were from caused from not loving completely. When you question if you love completely – ask yourself the following questions; Did you love God fully? Did you love and show love to those around you?

We must love those around us despite what they do – the Bible says in Cor. 13:8 that “Love never fails…”

Learn Humbly

humble • adjective (humbler, humblest) 1 having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. 2 of low rank.3 of modest pretensions or dimensions: humble beginnings.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!” – Phil. 2:5-8 (NIV)

Jesus, at the end of his life, humbled himself to the degree of dyeing a shameful sinners death upon the cross. We should take every experience in life and use it as a opportunity for learning. I don’t speak from experience. I often take criticism badly – and after having time to think about it – I realize that, well – I could learn from it and become better through it – as bad, shameful or painful it was.

God allows us to see our problems and we need to take this with humility and try and resolve these problems. God does not expect us to do this alone. Life is not meant to be lived alone – we need people around us – to help us and in the reverse – for us to help.

We need to get to the stage in life when we can say that I cant do this alone. I give up. We need to then ask God for help – only after we admit these things can He work within us. So we need to take advice and criticisms in life humbly.

Leave Boldly

bold • adjective 1 confident and courageous

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” – Matthew 25:23 (NIV)

I believe that our time on earth is limited and I believe that we are not made to live on earth for eternity. We need to let go of earthly things when our time comes. We need to have a sense of security about what happens to us once we die.

We need to see death as simply a path to eternity with our maker – Christ Jesus. If we see it like this – we should not see death as the end of life as we know it – but rather a beginning of a new chapter – and if this is how we view it – surely we are able to leave boldly. So we need to ask ourselves – are we ready to meet our God?

I hope this article has given you some food for thought. It made me think hard about myself – as I write this article – I know there are many unanswered questions for me. So I write this not as someone who is perfect in all these areas – but rather as someone who would like to embrace these principles and introduce them into my own life.

Noel

Suggestion: http://blip.tv/file/get/Nharrison-MusicILike222.m4v (this work much faster for some reason)

So, over the past week, ive been listening to a vast array of musical talent. So as I lay / sit / stood (insert possible position), I found the following to hold much value to myself – for a vast variety of reasons. None the less, I thought I would share it;

“The past is behind us, what has been, now is gone, but right now is with us and we must carry on, but when regret closes in, I dont think what might of been, I think grace and I know whatever comes, he’ll make a way! This time, this is what counts, this is what our lives are about, this time..”

and..

“It’s the heart afraid of breaking, That never learns to dance, It’s the dream afraid of waking, That never takes the chance, It’s the one who won’t be taken, Who cannot seem to give, And the soul afraid of dying, That never learns to live..”

and…

“What the hell were we thinking, Were we thinking at all, What the hell did we believe we’d achieve, We stood there with our hearts exposed,  As the others said I told you so, What the hell, What the hell…”

and..

“Close your eyes and they’ll all be gone, They can scream and shout that they’ve been sold out, But it paid for the cloud that we’re dancing on. So shine on. Just shine on! With your smile just as bright as the sun. ’Cause they’re all just slaves to the gods they made, But you and I just shone. Just shone.”

So those are just a few for now that I have enjoyed.

Noel Harrison

We live just in front of a nature reserve. Today I spotted a small heard of buffalo. You can click on the image below to enlarge, however – its not wonderful quality as I have a bad hand :/

Noel

These are a few pictures of this beautiful day in the valley, I hope you enjoy them!

Noel

Update: Davide will be returning home tomorrow. He has been recovering well. Thank you all for your prayers. Keep praying that the healing continues. It is greatly appreciated

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Just a quick request to anyone who is reading this website. One of my good friends- Davide, recently got badly injured at a hockey game stadium. He was avoiding a small child who came out in front of him and fell down the steep concrete stairs. He has been in hospital since Sunday and has been in and out of intensive care.

So my request is that we pray for Gods hand to be upon him at this time and that Gods will will be done in this time. Davide is a very special person – he has a beautiful family who needs him, he has friends who need him. Please pray for him.

I would and im sure all of us would appreciate you doing this.

- Noel Harrison