Quotation of the Day…

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… is from pages 10-11 of Richard Epstein’s brilliant 1995 book, Simple Rules for a Complex World:

Battles over legislation are likely to be more bitter and protracted given the conflicts between groups that are difficult to compromise and broker whenever a majority is in a position to expropriate wealth from a minority. Legislation, in a word, works best in homogenous societies where agreement on basic values reduces the overall level of conflict.

DBx: Yes. In large, diverse, and dynamic societies, it’s best to rely as much as possible on private sources of ordering, such as the market, and on common-law processes.