I’m Sick of Having My Intelligence Insulted

(Don Boudreaux)

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Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal:

Editor:

You accurately describe as “hilarious” Commerce secretary Gina Raimondo’s attempt to justify the strings the administration is attaching to subsidies dispensed under the Chips Act (“Gina Raimondo, Social Policy Planner,” March 29). As you note, Ms. Raimondo’s explanation isn’t merely a lie, it’s a lie that insults Americans’ intelligence.

Why, I wonder, do so many Americans nevertheless continue to take politicians and bureaucrats seriously. Not only do these officials routinely lie and spin tales, too often the lies and tales they tell reveal their belief that ordinary people have intellects the equivalent of preschoolers. Ms. Raimondo’s remarks would be no more credible had she instead said “We’re imposing these requirements at the request of Santa Claus.”

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030