Those who reject paternalism often claim that human beings do a terrific job of making choices, or if not terrific, certainly better than anyone else would do (especially if that someone else works for the government). Whether or not they have ever studied economics, many people seem at least implicitly committed to the idea of Homo economicus, or economic man—the notion that each of us thinks and chooses unfailingly well, and thus fits within the usual depiction of human beings that is offered by economists.
