Who's your favourite science fiction author?

Mine's Paul Krugman. Here's a great piece by Jeremy Horpedahl:

Above all, it seems quite odd to use this as a counter to Milton Friedman's claim that "private companies would avoid taking risks with public health to safeguard their reputations and to avoid damaging class-action lawsuits." It seems they were trying to self-regulate. What stopped them? Not the free market, but, as Krugman accurately notes, the USDA itself, which was headed by "a former food-industry lobbyist." This is market failure? Is that the best you got? If this is evidence that the Bush administration is more about corporatism than capitalism, I'm all for it, but Krugman doesn't quite pitch it that way.

Comments

[Jeremy H.]

Here's the Krugman column I was referencing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/opinion/13krugman.html

Also, on the origins of federal meat inspection, Libecap's article is a must read:

http://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/ecinqu/v30y1992i2p242-62.html