A version of this letter of mine appears in today’s Boston Globe. (I say “a version” because the published letter is behind a paywall, and I don’t subscribe to the Globe – although I am able to access Jeff Jacoby’s columns in full. I’m not sure what edits might have been made to the published version of the letter.)
Editor:
Jeff Jacoby is understandably appalled that so many bad ideas continue, despite their long and unblemished records of destructiveness, to attract new adherents (“Why won’t zombie bad ideas stay buried?” October 1). Antisemitism, socialism, protectionism – these and other disastrous false gods do indeed seem to be immortal. It’s tempting for decent people to despair.
But resist the temptation. As my late colleague Bob Tollison frequently said, “We’re all part of the equilibrium” – which is an economist’s way of observing that the truthful words and goods deeds of decent, informed people weigh in the balance against the fallacies peddled by indecent or poorly informed people. As bad as things might now be, they’d be much worse if virtuous and knowledgeable individuals such as Mr. Jacoby were not regularly speaking out against these zombie delusions.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
