Jack(boot) of All Trades
8 October 2007
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Barry Goldwater did indeed argue that reducing government's size takes precedence over making it more efficient. Paul Krugman - convinced that every opponent of the welfare state is a devious scoundrel - offers Goldwater's argument as evidence that non-"liberals" want government to be incompetent.
Opponents of expansive government have long explained that a government that tries to do everything will do everything poorly. The late Sen. Goldwater, being no anarchist, sought to confine government to a relatively few core functions, in part because being so confined would enable government to perform these functions more competently.
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:
Barry Goldwater did indeed argue that reducing government's size takes precedence over making it more efficient. Paul Krugman - convinced that every opponent of the welfare state is a devious scoundrel - offers Goldwater's argument as evidence that non-"liberals" want government to be incompetent.
Opponents of expansive government have long explained that a government that tries to do everything will do everything poorly. The late Sen. Goldwater, being no anarchist, sought to confine government to a relatively few core functions, in part because being so confined would enable government to perform these functions more competently.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Wednesday April 9, 2008 at 3:33pm