NC native, frequent Freeman contributor and all-around good guy Frank Stephenson has this letter published in today’s WSJ:

In decrying “market idolatry” because it results in CEOs and other business leaders being regarded as “the truly enlightened Americans,” Thomas Frank (“Obama Needs a Better Reading List,” June 4) commits the common mistake of assuming that the “righteousness of markets” is the same thing as being pro-business. To the contrary, markets that are not constrained by predatory politicians in cahoots with businesses seeking special favors force firms to compete with one another by serving consumers with better value. The result is entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates who get rich by creating useful products rather than rent seekers like Carlos Slim who get rich by obtaining legally protected monopolies.

Good one, Frank!

Thomas Frank is a recent addition to the roster of columnists at the WSJ and I have yet to see anything intelligent from him. It might be fair to say that he practices a different sort of idolatry — idolatry of coercion by the state. If there are who “idolize” the market, whatever that might mean, at least that means idolizing something that’s peaceful. Interferences with the market necessarily entail coercion in the form of mandates and prohibitions enforced by government officials. Far less harm can be done by the former than the latter.