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What is the Seen?
In economics, there are situations when there are obvious effects of a single event. Such as a drought wiping out the crops of many farmers, therefore decreasing the supply of say corn for the year. This decrease in corn causes the demand to rise and therefore the price of corn. Situations such as these can be labelled as "seen" as there are obvious causes and effects that can be traced back to one source. Although it is easy to track economic rabbit holes such as this, it is not easy to predict the events that change the economy such as accidents and acts of God etc. In this aspect then, the economy is easy to follow and predict. However, the economy is such an interconnected web that there are countless other effects that cannot be easily tracked and followed.
What is the Unseen?
As stated before, the unseen is the economic effects that occur without giving us the ability to predict what will happen. Bylund refers to opportunity cost as an example of this. When you chose to buy your own mower and mow your own lawn, Bylund argues that the effects of this can be much prominent then we would be led to believe. This concept is also referenced in Bastiat's The Law with the example of the glazier. An accident occurs that breaks a shop-owner's window and is annoying to him, but gives the glazier business which feeds his family and is his living. This is a good example of the Unseen because it illustrates the idea that there are many moving pieces within the economy and the ripples that are sent through it can turn into waves along the road.
How does government regulation effect the economy?
Bylund, along with Bastiat argue that any government regulation on the economy and its people are negative and the economy should soley be run by the people in it, for the good of the people in it. A perfect example of this is centralized Health Care. Since there are so many regulations on the Health Care system, it forces the "little guy" out and rewards the already established and larger entities. The problem with this is that it stifles competition and promotes what is essentially a monopoly on national healthcare. If regulations were to be removed from all aspects of the economy including Health Care, there would be fierce competition to provide the best services for the lowest prices. Therefore everyone wins, the "little guy" gets to introduce himself back into the economy and the customers get to pick from a wider array of choices while also paying less.
Reflection:
Personally, I agree with Bylund and his arguments about how government regulations negatively effect the economy. I believe that federal government's job should be to protect our rights and that is about it. Commerce should be regulated by the states in order to reduce the possibility of nationwide monopolies, as well as making it easier for small businesses and start-ups to thrive. Although capitalistic America has been under a lot of scrutiny in the recent past, I think that Bylund realizes the good that comes out of a free system that is lead by the people and therefore helps the people.