Krugman vs. Friedman
21 May 2007
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Construing Milton Friedman's arguments with a Don-Imus-like subtlety, Paul Krugman blames the late Nobelist's opposition to government regulation for unsafe food ("Fear of Eating," May 21).
Let's see: Mr. Friedman argued that political institutions too often perform poorly. And Mr. Krugman today documents such poor performance by the FDA. Seems to me that Mr. Friedman was correct that the case for relying upon government bureaucracies to protect consumers is weak.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Construing Milton Friedman's arguments with a Don-Imus-like subtlety, Paul Krugman blames the late Nobelist's opposition to government regulation for unsafe food ("Fear of Eating," May 21).
Let's see: Mr. Friedman argued that political institutions too often perform poorly. And Mr. Krugman today documents such poor performance by the FDA. Seems to me that Mr. Friedman was correct that the case for relying upon government bureaucracies to protect consumers is weak.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Friday January 11, 2008 at 9:22am