… is from page 313 of Thomas Sowell’s 2002 collection, Controversial Essays:
The strongest argument for socialism is that it sounds good. The strongest argument against socialism is that it doesn’t work. But those who live by words will always have a soft spot in their hearts for socialism because it sounds so good.
DBx: Indeed.
And the above quotation would retain all of its truth and relevance if, in place of “socialism,” the reader were to substitute “protectionism,” “industrial policy,” “minimum-wage legislation,” “anti-price-gouging legislation,” “stakeholder capitalism,” or any number of other names for interventions that merely sound good.
