Libertarian?

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 07:53 AM

The latest U.S. News describes Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein as "[t]wo high-profile, libertarian-leaning University of Chicago professors."

The magazine then contradicts itself with the following passage describing Thaler and Sunstein's recommendations:

Want to increase organ donation? Make people opt out of donating. Think retirement plan contributions should be higher? Make enrollment automatic. They advocate setting up better "choice architectures," not regulation, to nudge humanity forward. [Emphasis added.]

It's a strange libertarian who wants to make people do anything. Nor does your typical libertarian want anyone to decide how best to "nudge humanity forward." The essence of libertarianism is freedom.

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