Government knows that their best bet is to keep the economy growing. The New York Times recently reported that peasants may soon be given rights to their farmland. This would have huge ramifications. Of those 70,000 protests that happen every year in China, almost all take place in the countryside. This is “a step that could draw hundreds of millions of farmers more firmly into the market economy, now centered around the cities.” What does this move portend for China? I think it’s a bold step – they have antiquated farming methods which should be brought up to speed – but what will the unintended consequences be?

To relate this to the idea of how much government is good government, let me say that were China to let some speculatory companies fleece farmers by the millions, there would be social unrest. Here government should help set up a system with safeguards and guiding principles. We’re now learning the hard way that markets do not do a great job of regulating themselves. They’re created by people, so they’re inherently imperfect. While I believe in markets, especially more than I believe in restrictive regimes, it’s folly to think that government shouldn’t push for regulations, incentivize worthy endeavors and help set a nation’s vision.