Mea Culpa - Explicatus

This is just a quick follow up for some of you who may have been a bit confused by the portrait adorning the new Reductio Ad Absurdum post.


The man above is not Don Boudreaux. That man is Claude Frédéric Bastiat, a 19th century French theorist and political economist. He is a master at illustrating economic points by taking their premises to their extreme and ultimate end. In short, revealing the absurd through absurdity.

If you are looking for a general crash-course in Classical Liberal economics that will almost certainly make you laugh, I would advise anyone to pick up a copy of his Economic Sophisms. Keep an eye out for the "Candlemakers' Petition," one of my favorite admonitions against the dangers of protectionism.

Now, back to healthcare...