Mises Daily  Home | Library | Revolt of the Misesians  Revolt of
the Misesians  October 8, 2001   The government is probably no
more interventionist-minded than the United States, and all
governments seek ever more power and are limited, as Ludwig von
Mises pointed out, only by the level of public resistance. But
Guatemalans do not have a long history of well-developed private
enterprise, and thus they are capital-starved to the point that
even small hindrances to trade are felt very strongly. The
annual output of the country is $16 billion, which is less than
half of the new spending the US government authorized after the
terrorist attack.  Last year, the US and the IMF took a look at
Guatemala with an eye toward fixing up the economy, with the
goal, of course, of reshuffling the country's loan portfolio.
After extensive study, the conclusion of the geniuses was the
following: the country needs more financial transparency and
higher taxes.  Now, the financial transparency issue is a red
herring. It helps the