Today in America, we are no longer the worlds largest market economy. If anything, the only thing greatest about the American economy is the amount of money we owe to other countries. Politicians and activists portray big government as essential to safeguard the common good. There is no question we need the government to protect our rights and assure the rule of law. But overly large and politicized government ends up dominating and undermining a moral society. Instead of empowering people, big government programs, from welfare subsidies to corporate bailouts, promote dependency and deteriorate personal responsibility, encouraging both people and companies to make bad decisions. How did we, as a country, allow our students and our citizens in general to become so economically uneducated in just two generations?