Learn economic lessons from Japan

The problem with capitalism in a democracy is that it can be a brutal Darwinian system where the fittest survive and the others don't. This can be hard for politicians to accept. Capitalism's nature means stupid investment decisions by companies and their executives can and will result, unfortunately, in businesses failing and employees losing their jobs with aftershocks throughout the economy. But, in time, because of profit motive and entrepreneurship, in a true capitalist system, new businesses, better suited for the current environment will rise and thrive in place of the old dinosaur ones that failed. The problem is that these market transitions can take years to sort out. For a politician facing election campaigns every few years, telling angry, unemployed constituents that the best answer might just be for the government to do nothing other lower taxes, interests, and regulations is a tough sell. This might be good economics but it renders that politician vulnerable to charges that he's only looking out for big business and screwing the little guy. So there goes Japan, and we're headed their way as well. That politicians who try to apply sound economic principles to solving economic problems likely can't get elected or stay in office is a result of a lousy public education system that fails utterly in teaching our youth about the laws of supply and demand and the economic cycle. That results in a generation of political leaders and voters ignorant of the system that our economy runs by. Like Japan's, our leaders will be even more mystified as to why government meddling such as bailout programs fails to revive the economy. While I'm a conservative, the Republican buy-in to this current groupthink that's venturing into selective socialism is causing me to think that the Libertarians might be on to something. Their philosophy seems more in keeping with true capitalism than the new Democrat/Republican bailout.