VitalAccurateThinking

The value of economic freedom

I have often wondered why it is difficult to explain why personal freedom must be built upon economic freedom:

"One of the things I highlight in the interview is a marvelous line from Friedrich Hayek that fits Bryan Caplan's view of 'rational irrationality.' A friend of mine, Michael Walker, the former head of the Fraser Institute in Canada, once asked Hayek why it was so hard to convince people of the value of economic freedom. Hayek smiled and said:

One of the forms of private property that people cherish most is their ideas. If you convince them that their ideas are wrong, you have caused them to suffer a capital loss."

Indeed.

posted by Jim VAT @ 9:18 AM