Why does the US keep being surprised by events? Because the government, whether at home or abroad, acts like an irresponsible teenager driving a fast car. The decision calculus is myopic in the extreme. No thought is given to the effect of its decisions on others, and no uncertainties are ever presumed. When the crash occurs, there are fleeting moments of regret, but no actual learning. Ultimately, the US knows it can always flee the scene of the crime. [MORE]
From Arts and Letters Daily comes this link to R. Epstein in Reason, who justifies the state on the following grounds:”successful cooperation in key situations can be thwarted by individual holdouts. It will not be possible to build a railroad from point A to point B solely by getting the cooperation of 99 out of 100 private landowners along the way.
Submitted by Scott Reamer:
WASHINGTON—Amid concerns about a declining industrial base and outsourcing of high-tech jobs to low-wage countries, a bill to repeal both the Law of Comparative Advantage and the Law of Demand passed both houses of Congress Thursday with near-unanimous bipartisan support.
Thomas Sowell: Why it is important for economists to combat public ignorance:
[Sowell reviewed by Callahan, Gordon 1, Gordon 2, Gordon 3.]
