You gotta, therefore, love markets!!

This morning's Wall Street Journal articlePrices of Raw Goods Plunge on Slowdown tells why markets are so critical. I.e., the economy contracts (or growth slows), incomes therefore begin to contract, demand therefore begins to wane, stockpiles (ramped up when prices were higher) are therefore too high, prices are therefore bid lower, and production therefore gets cut (planting the seeds for the next rebound). I.e., free markets, where prices and production reflect the demands of individuals, keep people fed, clothed and in business.

And you thought we needed the government to do all that.