Wednesday, June 05, 2024
The Cancellation of Liberty
Supply chain disruptions were one aspect of the post-COVID chaos the world was subjected to. Politicians were gobsmacked to learn that shutting down the global economy caused markets to function erratically. They believed that markets operate at their pleasure. By the snap of a finger or wink of an eye they could shut down the global economy and by the same wink or snap markets would restart uninterrupted. One might call this the King Louis XVI syndrome, defined as the irrational belief by political elites that establishing unclever policies will result in predictable, poignant, popular outcomes. Their inevitable response to the unpopular outcome is the classic retort attributed to Marie Antionette, “let them eat cake.”
