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Economist Donald Boudreaux has a new book and a new video pushing a simple, stubborn idea: government “help” often makes life worse. Call it old-fashioned common sense, or call it Reagan’s warning about bureaucrats with good intentions. Either way, the message hits at the heart of today’s policy debates — from industrial subsidies to rent control, from daycare rules to AI job panics.
Boudreaux’s new book: The Triumph of Economic Freedom
In his new book, The Triumph of Economic Freedom, Boudreaux argues that free markets produce better results than government plans. He says we prosper when people and businesses are left alone to compete, build, and innovate. That’s the thesis he lays out in a recent video interview, and it’s a welcome counterpunch to the growing chorus of politicians promising to “help” us with more rules and handouts.
When “help” turns into industrial policy and price hikes
The irony is thick: leaders on both sides promise help, then fund politically connected firms and saddle everyone else with higher prices. Boudreaux calls out past federal spending that drove inflation and praised subsidies that went to favored companies like Intel. He warns that President Trump’s similar instincts toward industrial policy could lead us down the same road — expensive, clumsy, and unfair. If government picks winners, the losers are taxpayers and the small businesses that never get a ribbon-cutting.
Real-world hits: housing, daycare, and meddling with jobs
Take housing and daycare — two essentials that keep families afloat. Boudreaux points out what economists know: land-use rules, rent control, and heavy licensing raise costs and reduce supply. Politicians say they’re protecting people, but the result is fewer homes and pricier childcare. Even Seattle’s new mayor, praised by progressive activists for “giving people time to smell the roses,” ends up sounding like a central planner who thinks she knows how we should live. Let people decide whether they want more work or more leisure; don’t let bureaucrats ration opportunity.
Markets, innovation, and the future of work
Artificial intelligence will reshuffle jobs, and some politicians reflexively want to freeze the economy to “protect” workers. Boudreaux is blunt: technology destroys some jobs but creates better ones and lifts living standards. The right response isn’t to chain companies to old tasks; it’s to ensure markets are free so people can find new, better work. If we keep treating entrepreneurship like a crime scene and regulation like a healing balm, the hurt will continue long after the promises of help have faded.
