Ilya Somin, my colleague over at GMU Law, rightly worries about the slippery slope that the bailout plan is likely to perch us upon.
Today’s column by the Washington Post‘s David Ignatius 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.
