Tweet [1]
Ilya Somin, my colleague over at GMU Law, rightly worries about the slippery slope that the bailout plan is likely to perch us upon [2].
Today’s column by the Washington Post‘s David Ignatius [3] provides further evidence that this slope is both steep and slippery. Mind – Ignatius himself isn’t worried about slipping too far down a dangerous slope; rather, his proposal is evidence of how easy, in fact, it is to slip:
A truly Keynesian rescue plan should do more than bail out foolish
investors. How might the pieces fit into a larger design? Well, if the
taxpayers are going to acquire a stake in the nation’s largest
insurance company, perhaps that company can be the cornerstone of a new
system of universal private health coverage. If the taxpayers are going
to acquire $700 billion in real estate assets, perhaps the eventual
profits can fund new investments in infrastructure or energy technology.