Finally, like a breath of fresh air

Finally someone telling it like it is. This is Marc Faber, one of the most highly regarded economists on earth:

'Governments have intervened too much in free markets since the crisis started, to the point that they are affecting the health of the world economy, Marc Faber, the author of "The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report" told CNBC Thursday.

Later on Thursday, leaders of the 27 European Union member states will discuss ways of strengthening fiscal discipline in the bloc and tightening financial regulation to prevent another economic crisis.

Axel Griesch | ASFM | Getty Images Dr. Marc Faber says too much government intervention risks distorting markets.

In the US, despite criticism about the way it handled the crisis, the Federal Reserve is set to become the most powerful financial regulator under a financial reform bill being discussed in Congress.

"I think that governments have become like a cancer, they have expanded in the financial system," Faber said.

"I think the biggest problem is too much intervention. Whatever the government touches is usually done worse than in the private sector," he said.

Markets usually give signals when something goes wrong but, if the government is to intervene, as is the case of the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England's bond buying, government intervention hides these signals, according to Faber.

"I think any government intervention has unintended consequences and is negative," he said. When there is intervention, "eventually the market will break the intervention and things will blow out."

Government stimulus packages create volatility in stock markets because they distort economic indicators, said Faber, who predicted that the US will implement another stimulus.

Supporters of past government interventions to boost money in the economy have said that without them the world economy would have been in much worse shape now, with unemployment much higher and more companies going bankrupt.

"Yes I am familiar with this line of argumentation," Faber said. "The Keynesians will all say … we would be in a depression now. But it's not clear to me that this is correct." '