Meltdown

Is Capitalism the Culprit?

The media tells us that “deregulation” and “unfettered free markets” have wrecked our economy and will continue to make things worse without a heavy dose of federal regulation.  But the real blame lies elsewhere.  In Meltdown, bestselling author Thomas E. Woods Jr. unearths the real causes behind the collapse of housing values and the stock market–and it turns out the culprits reside more in Washington than on Wall Street.

And the trillions of dollars in federal bailouts?  Our politicians’ ham-handed attempts to fix the problems they themselves created will only make things much worse.

Woods, a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and winner of the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Award, busts the media myths and government spin.  He explains how government intervention in the economy–from the Democratic hobby horse called Fannie Mae to affirmative action programs like the Community Redevelopment Act–actually caused the housing bubble.

Recorded at the University of Colorado, Boulder; April 3, 2009.