On the day of foot-long obituaries for Milton Friedman the grandfather of “free markets make free people” it is appropriate that Jason Parle of the NY Times has a long, revealing piece about the newest wave of small government fundamentalists, a franchise of think-tanks now in 40 states.
As a full-throated advocate of capitalism — the jagged, creative-destructive kind — Mr. Reed says he is used to being called a corporate apologist who would despoil the environment and afflict the poor. But he sees himself as a defender of free markets and free men, claiming among his major role models Thomas Clarkson, a 19th-century British abolitionist whom Mr. Reed regards as the world’s first think-tank entrepreneur. “Clarkson championed our movement’s overarching principle: If there’s anything certain in human affairs, it’s that liberty will prevail,” he said. …
Collectively, the groups have pushed for cuts in health and welfare programs, constitutional limits on state spending, and expanded school choice programs. They have opposed what they call burdensome health, safety, and environmental regulations and increases in the minimum wage.
This is important reading at the end of a giddy week. Sobering.