Regardless of the merits of the Bush Administration's proposed $700bn bank bailout plan, you've got to love those theoretical economists who STILL want the free market to be left alone. Admirable. Here is an idea. There is a logic at work behind various diseases and epidemics. Certainly childhood ailments are nature's way to a) control the population of our species and b) make sure the stronger survive. But with government-sponsored vaccination programs and advanced medicine, we might have created a larger nation than nature had intended, with many weak, unfit individuals surviving into maturity and passing on their genes on to future generations. This is essentially the same thing as Miron telling us that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "artificially" widened the homeowner base under government protection. Well, I see none of academia's free market stars rushing to forego their kids' vaccinations. It's only man's intervention in the economy that they decry.

Posted by Alexei Bayer, 10:02 a.m. Friday, September 26 2008 Permalink

First of all, Miron's specialty is the economics of libertarianism. I think it's pretty irresponsible of you not to make that clear in the introduction. And your interview didn't press him to justify his rather radical viewpoints (and borderline racist comments on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Pretty poor job of reporting, but that seems to be a common occurrence on this show.

Posted by Deane, 10:56 p.m. Saturday, September 27 2008 Permalink