Seattle’s new socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, has apparently discovered a bold new governing principle: If you don’t like the laws of economics… simply ban them.
In a recent ideological victory lap, Wilson announced she will not allow private grocery stores to close in certain neighborhoods — as if the mayor now commands the forces of supply, demand, cost, and human behavior.
Milton Friedman had a phrase for this kind of thinking: “The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.”
Seattle is about to test that theory in real time.
WHEN A MAYOR IMAGINES HERSELF AN ECONOMIC CENTRAL PLANNER
Here’s a detail absent from Wilson’s press conference: A mayor has absolutely no legal authority to force a private grocery store to remain open.
But why let law — or basic economics — interfere with the utopian narrative?
Wilson’s worldview is simple: “If a store is failing, the city will simply mandate it succeed.”
Milton Friedman would laugh — politely — and remind her: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies by their intentions rather than their results.”
THE MAGICAL THINKING BEHIND “YOU CAN’T CLOSE YOUR STORE!”
Her toolbox for preventing closures includes:
- Bureaucratic closure notices
- Mandated “food desert” impact studies
- Mandatory severance
- A government-run grocery chain
Translation: If you try to leave, we’ll punish you until you regret ever doing business here.
Friedman already saw this decades ago: “Central planning masquerading as compassion never works.”
A QUICK ECONOMICS LESSON — FRIEDMAN EDITION
Businesses operate on crime, theft, labor costs, customer volume, supply chains, and thin margins — not speeches.
When a grocery store closes, it’s because math — not morality — forced the decision.
Friedman again: “Underlying most arguments for government expansion is the assumption that nothing works unless the government forces it to.”
GOVERNMENT GROCERY STORES: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
Wilson’s “public option” grocery store repeats a long history of failures:
- Higher prices
- Empty shelves
- Massive losses
- Taxpayers footing the bill
Milton Friedman captured it perfectly: “If government ran the Sahara Desert, in five years we’d be out of sand.”
WHEN IDEOLOGY OVERRULES REALITY
Practical leaders fix problems. Wilson’s plan bans businesses from leaving — then builds government stores when they inevitably do.
This is duct-taping over a flashing engine light and calling it leadership.
Friedman once said: “You can only force people to act against their interests for so long.”
FINAL THOUGHT: REALITY ALWAYS WINS
You can declare food a right.
You can hold press events.
You can scold corporations.
You can build government grocery stores.
But you cannot order a private business to operate at a loss because it flatters your ideology.
Milton Friedman remains undefeated.
Ronald Reagan warned us decades ago:
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’”
If Reagan were watching Seattle today, he’d add: “…especially if I’m here to run your grocery store.”
Seattle is about to learn the hard way: government can’t repeal economics — and every attempt ends the same way: higher prices, less choice, empty shelves, and taxpayers holding the bill.