Wednesday, July 07, 2010 by John S. Chamberlain http://www.mises.org

Take cover when you hear a political leader talking about economic affairs. You can bet a bad decision is incoming. Luckily for the leaders, their meddling usually has a slow, erosive effect on the economy. Every so often, however, the great ones manage to land a real whopper that takes them down along with their whole country. Here are ten examples from history.

2. Shearing the English Wolf

You know you are doing something wrong when your enemies become folk heroes like Robin Hood. Common sense is to tax the weak and give money to the strong, but after his failure in forestry policy King John of England decided to try the reverse. He relieved the knights of the realm from their military service requirements, but then ordered them to pay instead a hefty "scutage" (shield) tax. Soon, there were 10,000 Robin Hoods trying to kill him and going about it in an organized fashion. Signing the humiliating Magna Carta in 1215 bought him some time, but by the next year he was living on the lam. After his folly-won treasure was washed away in a mistimed river crossing, he went crazy and died soon after.