Yesterday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch had this superb piece by Professor Steven Horwitz, on Obama’s fatal conceit (as Hayek termed it) that he and a bunch of politically-appointed experts can improve upon the natural order of the world.

To Horwitz’s excellent analysis, I’d only add this. When individuals and business people make decisions, they stand to benefit if they’re right or lose if they’re wrong. That creates very strong incentives to make good decisions. Politicians and their appointed functionaries (such as the 31 year old campaign worker Obama has elevated to de facto presidency of GM) are not only deeply ignorant, but stand neither to directly gain or lose depending on their decisions for the rest of us. That is why we should want as little political involvement in society as possible.