Can Any Nation Prosper Without the Rule of Law? . . . Good Intentions Often Lead to Bad Laws

The Omaha Bugle-Global News Network

Diving into the morass of modern Anglo-American jurisprudence, the Omaha Bugle's senior correspondents, Adam and Jeff, discuss how the rule of law is absolutely crucial to the long-term success of any modern economy. They point out that companies abhor uncertainty and chaos and are extremely reluctant to invest large sums of money in new plants or hire additional workers when they fear that the laws governing their operations might be changed at a moment's notice--particularly if they are operating in a worker's paradise such as Xi's China or Putin's Russia. They also raise concerns about excessive regulations which can choke off economic activity even though these regulations might be undertaken "with the best of intentions". The advantage of being a dictator is that you do not have to worry about a pesky court invalidating your actions because you will have--if you have properly seized power--already locked up all of the judges. But such regimes in which a single person makes all the big decisions are extremely scary to entrepreneurs. Indeed, foreign investment in China, for example, has dropped off a cliff in recent years to about one-tenth (1/10th) of what it was during the COVID-19 epidemic because companies are very concerned about the arbitrary and capricious actions of the CCP which have been enacted to restrict the power and autonomy of many of China's largest companies.