Why do some people never support a free-market proposal, even when they think it would work better than government intervention? For many, the reason is that collective political action offers the romantic notion that “we’re all working together,” while market mechanisms seem to them less lofty because they rely on the self-interest of individuals acting privately.

Daniel B. Klein is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor of Economics at George Mason University.
DemocracyEconomyGovernment and PoliticsLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and ReligionPolitical TheoryPublic ChoiceSocialism, Communism, and Collectivism
Other Independent Review articles by Daniel B. Klein
Summer 2023 The Tao Exposes Slavers to Contempt
Spring 2023 Instilling Duties above Instilling Rights: Two Features of Adam Smith’s Talk of Justice and Liberty
Summer 2020 Adam Smith’s Rebuke of the Slave Trade, 1759
[View All (18)]