There is no "we" in "I"

The most excellent Arnold Kling:

Most economists favor the free market, with reservations. [I reject] the reservations. If John and Mary are free individuals, and John trades with Mary, then John and Mary both are better off. End of story.

Most other economists believe in the need for government intervention. Like many non-economists, they talk about government policy in terms of we. We must, we have to, we need, we should, etc.

... you have to lose the we. When people use we in today's politics , they are doing two things.

1. Appealing to a moral entity that stands apart from and above John, Mary, or any other individual

2. Treating government as the embodiment of that higher moral entity

I should emphasize that "lose the we" does not mean that one should be selfish or uncompassionate or uncaring. Instead, it means that you should channel your impulse to do good by actually doing good. Saying we and advocating government policy is instead a way of feeling good. It is an arrogant, demagogic pose.

Governments lay claim to legal authority to collect taxes or impose restrictions on trade across borders. But there is no moral significance to a border. If John, Mary, and Sam all lived within the same country, the question of whether free trade is good for "us" would never arise. John's right to trade with Mary without interference on behalf of Sam would not be questioned. It is hard to see how moving Mary across a border changes the situation from a moral or economic standpoint.

* * *

One of the variables that is correlated with health status is Unmentionable. This Unmentionable Factor affects life expectancy, income, international differences in the standard of living, and many other phenomena. Garett Jones is a young economist who incorporates The Unmentionable into his research. I describe a recent paper of Jones as saying that "people with high levels of The Unmentionable are better able to co-operate with one another." Not surprisingly, Jones has just joined the faculty at George Mason.