Freedom Is Indivisible

From Mises, via Reboot The Republic:

Responsible freedom means self-reliance, self-discipline, self-denial. Only a nation which prizes these qualities is to be taken seriously as a defender of world freedom. Only a government which encourages them is fit to preside over a free nation. Nevertheless, our government has become the most formidable agency for restricting the area of our economic freedom.

Consider freedom to choose between consuming and saving. Since the family is our most cherished social institution, it seems reasonable that we should not be hampered in saving for our children and our own old age.

Yet for all practical purposes our government treats saving as an offense punishable by heavy fine. First it increases the difficulty of saving by burdening us with more and more onerous taxes to support its grandiose spending. Next, it decreases the money income from our savings by arbitrarily holding down the interest rate, that is, by official falsehood about the value of savings to producers. Then it employs inflation to reduce the buying power of whatever dollars we succeed in saving.