… is this opening paragraph in a report in today’s New York Times:
The Obama administration said Thursday that rate increases sought by a health insurance company were unreasonable, and it ordered the insurer to rescind them or justify its refusal to do so.
What to say? U.S. Government officials are demanding that private business people “justify” their business decisions.
People unfamiliar with the concept of competition as a discovery procedure – people unaware of the complexity of emergent orders – people unconcerned about concentrated, arbitrary power wielded by worthies in Washington – people unfazed by the arrogance of a bureaucrat presuming to know that some proposed price-hike is too large, but who also cowardly refuses to put her money where her mouth is by opening up a competing insurance company – people unmoved by the prospect of private entrepreneurs and business people having to beg the permission of mandarins on the Potomac in order to conduct business – people unsuspecting that such power can easily be abused to punish politically inconvenient firms and to assist political allies – such people will find nothing frightening about the quoted paragraph.
The rest of us want to vomit out of both fear and loathing.
(HT Fred Dent)
