Stephen Moore in the Wall Street Journal writes: “If only ‘Atlas’ were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I’m confident that we’d get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.”

The “Atlas” Moore refers to is Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” I recently ordered a few copies of the 1957 novel to give to some friends and replace my personal copy which I loaned out … but forgot to whom. Once they are handed out, a few of us are going to read it together. It’s been years since I’ve cracked it open.

“Atlas” should be read by everyone. It contains life lessons in addition to the political and economic.

Here’s some of Moore’s points:

Many of us who know Rand’s work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that “Atlas Shrugged” parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

And here’s the greatest part:

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

The moral of the story? Go buy a copy of “Atlas Shrugged.” Shoot, buy one for your congressman or senator.