Paul Krugman has no understanding of libertarianism

In a New York Times opinion piece last Friday, Nobel Prize economist, Paul Krugman took a shot at libertarianism and free markets.

He points to an interview with the late Milton Friedman where he said that product safety regulation is not truly necessary because of the fear of law suits that could put companies found negligent out of business.

I agree with Friedman that the answer for issues like product liability and the oil spill is the courts.

Let me go on.

Krugman then goes on to point out the bill blocked by Sen. Lisa Murkowski that would have raised the maximum liability for oil companies after a spill from a paltry $75 million to $10 billion.

Photo/donkeyhotey.wordpress.com

Mr. Krugman, what exactly does that have to do with libertarianism? So you are saying that liability caps like the example you used, which is very un-libertarian, as an example of the failures of libertarianism?

Meanwhile, incompetent regulatory bureaucracies, also a very un-libertarian stance, are the answer for accidents or negligence like the BP oil spill? If that’s the case then why did it happen?

This is the same logic used to dismiss libertarianism and a true free market system in other arenas. The free market was blamed for the current financial meltdown according to Krugman and his ilk.

Unfortunately, that also doesn’t hold water. It was loose monetary policy from a quasi-governmental organization, corporate-government partnerships, irresponsible laws from the Congress and a host of other reasons for the recession. The free market, since it doesn’t really exist in this country, had no blood on its hands.

Mr. Krugman, you spit out this nonsense on a regular basis and your Keynesian views will further cause this economy to tank. I think you should return your Nobel Prize in Economics for a lack of knowledge on economics. And while you’re at it, pick up Mr. Obama’s medal also. That should be returned for his lack of knowledge on peace.