“Nevertheless the theory of output as a whole, which is what the following book purports to provide, is more easily adapted to the conditions of a totalitarian state, than is the theory of the production and distribution of a given output under conditions of free competition and a large measure of laissez-faire.” -John Maynard Keynes, in the preface to the 1936 German edition of his most famous work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
In other words, Mr. Keynes thought that totalitarian countries were just the kind of places to impose his liberal economic policies, since left to their own citizens wouldn’t freely choose what was good for them. This is the same justification for most government policies today, like renewable energy subsidies, energy efficiency programs, regulation of homeowners insurance, and health care. And, as a result, we drift farther and farther away from freedom. Which is why the U.S. has fallen from the ranks of free nations to being mostly free, now being ranked even lower than Canada.
– Bill Peacock