Bob Higgs is pessimistic about the possibility of keeping government limited to the functions that classical-liberals would assign to it. I share his pessimism. Here’s a slice of Bob’s post from over at The Beacon:
In sum, the classical liberal who, in the face of these realities, clings to the myth of Lockean limited government would seem to be a person irrationally devoted to sheer wishful thinking. Dreams have their place in human life, no doubt, but the dream of a government (as we know it) that confines itself to its Lockean functions and stays so confined is a dream that never was and never can be realized. At some point, people must open their eyes to this emperor’s nakedness—and, indeed, to the emperor’s viciousness, brutality, and utter, systematic injustice. Otherwise, classical liberals do little more than provide objects of amusement for the cynical men and woman who control the government and employ its powers in the service of their own aggrandizement and aggressive caprice.
Great news! Alberto Mingardi has signed on to be a guest blogger at EconLog.
Speaking of EconLog, David Henderson there calls our attention to Brad DeLong’s and Paul Krugman’s hostility to the work of Alan Reynolds.
Check out this spectacular 15-minute-long video of the production of new BMW automobiles. (HT Greg Rehmke) Oh, to any of you who watch this video and lament the fact that so very much of the work that was once done by humans is now done by robots, I’ve a question for you: if a bizarre meteorological event occurs that causes millions of brand-new automobiles – indistinguishable in quality, comfort, and performance from the 2014 models now rolling off of the assembly lines at BMW, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, etc. – to rain down safely into everyone’s driveways and parking spaces, would people, as a result, be made richer or poorer?
Here’s Pete Boettke on today’s fiscal debate.
Speaking of today’s fiscal debate, that topic is the subject of John Stossel’s most-recent show.
Glenn Reynolds doesn’t like institutional arrangements that disconnect power from responsibility.
I hope that Benjamin Netanyahu succeeds in his effort to knock down this man-made barrier to trade. (HT Andy Roth)
