One of the slow-motion disasters befalling the United States is the destruction of freedom of contract by grandstanding politicians. Invariably, the pols step in to change or abrogate contracts — and by definition, a contract must be voluntarily agreed to by both parties — so as to help “the little guy.” Never mind that an impartial legal system is part of the structure of a prosperous society; if there is any political advantage to be gained, smarmy pols will undermine it in a second.
Great case in point: property insurance contracts in Mississippi. In today’s WSJ, Professor James Q. Wilson writes about the attack on such contracts by the state’s scummy Attorney General. The contracts clearly exclude flood damage, but he is out to force insurance companies to pay for flood damage anyway. You can read Wilson’s article here.
