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are also good for business.

ENTITLEMENT TO PROTECTION BY THE GOVERNMENT

More politicians get elected promising to protect us from the evil in the world than by any other promises. People tend to run lines that self-protection like the right to own guns can be offset by increasing funding for police departments. What they fail to consider, however, is that cops investigate more murders than they prevent. That is only one example. The government protects us against losses in financial institutions through the FDIC and NCUA, but, again, regulators tend to react to poor management rather than prevent poor management.

What we really get out of government protections more than anything else is the freedom to be irresponsible. We do not have to consider the financial well-being of a bank offering a slightly higher rate than a competing bank because we are entitled to protection on deposits. The cost for this protection is paid for through both taxation, and by the financial institutions in the form of examination costs. If it were not for these examination costs, the financial institutions could pay slightly more for deposits, and consumers would be wary of deals that sound too good to be true.

On a greater level of entitlement is social security. Most people will contend that we are being paid the money we invested, but the reality is that money today's retirees paid went to benefits during the time payments were made. The current stipends are being paid to the increasing number of beneficiaries by today's declining work force. Though it may be a tough pill to swallow, social security should be shifted from an entitlement to a needs-based program. The reality of the situation is that Warren Buffett does not need his maximum check as badly as the lady up the street from me needs her less-than-maximum survivor's benefit.

As you probably can guess by now, someone promoting such policies will be up against the marketing slogans created by those who will promise that we are entitled to cradle-to-grave protections by a government that investigates murders, reacts to poor management, and paid Bob Hope the maximum benefit for the last thirty-five years of his life - all so we can go on our own merry ways without taking responsibility for our own well being.

SOLVING THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

The solution to the economic crisis, unfortunately, is for us to take our lumps. The stock market is either going to drop, or the dollars in the market are going to go down in value. The way the

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