Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Thomas Sowell Sinks Another Ship Of Foolish Thinking

In an earlier age, everybody knew that Poseidon shook the earth when the Greeks invoked his wrath, drowning sailors and sinking the ships of those who displeased him. Why else did these bad things happen?

"Someone" has to be responsible... things can't just happen, can they?

Covenant Zone's favorite economist Thomas Sowell floats another smart column today, offering a sharp navigation past the siren songs of those who would personalize nature on such economic issues as the current high price of gasoline:

The problem is not that supply and demand is such a complex explanation. The problem is that supply and demand is not an emotionally satisfying explanation. For that, you need melodrama, heroes and villains.

It is clear that many people prefer to blame President Bush. Others prefer to blame the oil companies, who have long been the favorite villains of the left.

Politicians understand that. Numerous times they have summoned the heads of oil companies before Congressional committees to be denounced on nationwide television for "greed," with the politicians calling for a federal investigation to "get to the bottom of this!"

Read it all.

No comments: