Justin Fox titles his regular TIME column ?The Curious Capitalist.? I?m glad he?s curious. His current knowledge about capitalism appears limited.

How else can you explain the following subheadline on his latest column: ?Wall Street?s fat paychecks may once have made economic sense. Now smaller ones do??

That might be true. If so, the market mechanism would dictate smaller salaries. Neither Mr. Fox?s pronouncements, nor government decrees, will determine the actions that make economic sense.

In his defense, Fox does offer a one-line caveat near the end of the piece:

Yet government attempts to dictate compensation at financial institutions are likely to bring about unintended and probably unpleasant consequences.

Let?s hope his curiosity leads him to other economic facts.