Sad day for fans of economic study ... Milton Friedman died. Instapundit had a bunch of coverage, which led me off to this link on the Corner covering a short blurb he had written in an open letter:
You are not mistaken in believing that drugs are a scourge that is devastating our society. You are not mistaken in believing that drugs are tearing asunder our social fabric, ruining the lives of many young people, and imposing heavy costs on some of the most disadvantaged among us. You are not mistaken in believing that the majority of the public share your concerns. In short, you are not mistaken in the end you seek to achieve. Your mistake is failing to recognize that the very measures you favor are a major source of the evils you deplore. Of course the problem is demand, but it is not only demand, it is demand that must operate through repressed and illegal channels. Illegality creates obscene profits that finance the murderous tactics of the drug lords; illegality leads to the corruption of law enforcement officials; illegality monopolizes the efforts of honest law forces so that they are starved for resources to fight the simpler crimes of robbery, theft and assault. Drugs are a tragedy for addicts. But criminalizing their use converts that tragedy into a disaster for society, for users and non-users alike. Our experience with the prohibition of drugs is a replay of our experience with the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.
The good news? Someone very smart said it. The bad news? Absolutely nothing has been done about it since then. Not sure what to make of that... possibly a) being smart is not enough to get stuff done (makes sense) b) nobody listens to economists (very likely) c) Milton Friedman should have become a politician (?) d) something else (definitely). Your guess is as good (and likely better) than mine.
