New Mexico is corrupt, lack of economic freedom is the cause

As Santa Fe New Mexican columnist Milan Simonich wrote recently: New Mexico has a corruption problem. Simonich argues that our corruption has created our stagnation (we’ll discuss that further below). He cites the APD DWI scandal but other recent scandals include Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, and AG Raul Torrez has recently come under scrutiny for taking a “cost-covered trip to South Africa featuring a safari, a stay at a five-star hotel, wine tours and gourmet restaurants that serve Wagyu steaks.” And then of course there is the legal corruption that permeates New Mexico in everything from its education funding formula to its capital outlay process.

But, there is a solution that doesn’t rely on improving human morals: increased economic freedom.

Study after study (including our own) highlights the fact that economic freedom can positively impact corruption. It only makes sense. In a free market where consumers make decisions to buy and sell it is hard to be corrupt. Your local Wal Mart almost always sells you exactly what you think you are buying and at the price you are willing to pay. Government, on the other hand, lacks a willing buyer and seller (government taxes you rather than selling its “benefits”), government lacks transparency, government officials often have conflicting motives.

If New Mexicans want to reduce corruption they need to vote for candidates that espouse principles of limited government and economic freedom. It is the only proven means of reducing corruption.