President Obama, Champion of the Free Market

Garrett Baldwin

This week, President Obama said something that made me shake my head.

While speaking outside Phoenix, AZ's Desert Vista High School on Tuesday, the president rejected accusations of favoring "socialism" in the housing markets.
"I know that sounds confusing to folks who call me a 'Socialist,'" he said. "I think I saw some posters there on the way in."
"But," he continued, "I actually believe in the free market."
Here's the thing…

After five years of top-down government policies that have done little to spur economic growth, we're skeptical about the president's love for unfettered capitalism.

Just look at the following seven "free-market" policies implemented by President Obama during his four-and-a-half years in office:

• He enacted a government takeover of the rules and regulations in the healthcare market, and mandated that every American must purchase health insurance (a move that bordered more on corporate fascism than free-market ideology). This "signature" law remains the furthest thing in the world from a market-based solution. It makes it virtually impossible for health insurance companies to operate without the government breathing down their necks at all hours of the day; it forces consumers to purchase a product they may not want or need; and, it does nothing to promote an open marketplace where companies can compete on quality and price.
• He allowed his energy secretary to hand billions of taxpayer dollars to campaign bundlers and fundraising allies in the form of green loans. This occurred even after Department of Energy analysts raised flags about the functionality of each project at the expense of other alternative energy projects that were more deserving of the funding. These crony actions socialized massive taxpayer losses and gave us the names Solyndra, Beacon Power, Fisker, and Satcon Technology. According to a recent report, as many as 50 companies that received Department of Energy money are either bankrupt or in serious danger of crashing.

Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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