So we all like the Norwood decision (1 2) because the result is more respect for private property rights. But what about the Court’s reasoning? Was it really pro-property? Yes, it was. Not Rothbardian or Hoppean, mind you, but as good as you’re likely to see from a government court. Here’s part of what they said:
A correspondent recently wrote me with a few libertarian puzzles/conundra. An edited version is below:
There is this guy, Lew Rockwell, who writes regularly on these pages. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but the man is an extremist. Yes, I repeat that: an extremist! He has no sense of proportion, nor balance. Instead, he marks out the most extreme positions on any given subject, and tries to make them sound, horrors!, reasonable.
I’ve previously argued that the Constitution does not (and should not) prohibit state takings that violate standards in the Fifth Amendment (see: A Libertarian Defense of ‘Kelo’ and Limited Federal Power; also More on Kelo and Federalism and related links here.
Who would question the need for the state to provide and enforce law? Bruce Benson, that’s who. A professor of economics at Florida State University, this is Benson’s blockbuster, pioneering treatise, the one that broke open a completely new field of study and forced the rethinking of this entire sector: The Enterprise of Law.
This story is a little older but it shows the path down which Chicago is going. It is quite saddening to see our cities becoming increasingly regulatory and Fascistic. In this article, Fran Spielman writes about the incredible drive one alderman has to ban fatty foods from the streets of Chicago. This comes after a report listing Chicago as the one of the most obese cities in the United States. The alderman is attacking one specific type of fat, Trans-fatty acids.
Chicago now has this great new law:
The measure requires retailers with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet to pay workers at least $10 an hour in wages plus $3 an hour in fringe benefits by mid-2010.
Does this mean a 16 year old kid must be paid 10 bucks per hour plus benefits from day one? Possibly, although I haven’t seen the law. Naturally, this will drive discount stores out the area, making poor people the big losers.
I just found this, and it’s marvelous!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As soon as I could safely toddle
My parents handed me a Model;
My brisk and energetic pater
Provided the accelerator.
My mother, with her kindly gumption,
The function guiding my consumption;
And every week I had from her
A lovely new parameter,
With lots of little leads and lags
In pretty parabolic bags.
