After over half a century of employer-provided health care coverage, the American people have developed a phobia of paying for health insurance themselves.

I call this the Fundamental Problem of Political Economy. How do we limit the power that idiots have over us? ... [Milton] Friedmans insight is that a market limits the power that others have over us; conversely, limiting the power that others have over us allows us to have markets. Friedman argued that no matter how wise the officials of government may be, market competition does a better job of protecting us from idiots.

I think that the main issue with inequality is not the gap between the rich and the poor. It is the gap between the earnings of top business leaders and the salaries of academics and journalists.

Constitutional provisions are not barriers to government misconduct. At best, they can be speed bumps.

Phelps has given us a clear warning of the dangers of corporatism. I hope that more people hear and heed the warning.

The gap between what one knows and what one thinks one knows may be higher in the ranks of the elite. The result is supposedly-clever government interventions, introduced with excessive confidence, leading to disastrous results.

The prescription for better health care is more freedom to innovate, not remote-control surgery from Washington.