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Monday Bonus Norway Blogging
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Daniel Mitchell thinks it's hypocritical for Norway's government to favor international action against tax havens, while Norway's government-run pension fund invests in companies that take advantage of tax havens.
The hypocrisy here entirely escapes me. I don't understand why libertarians pretend not to understand this, but it's not at all hypocritical to simultaneously say "insofar as X is permitted it's rational for me to do X, and therefore I will do X" and also "X should not be permitted." Generally the idea is that absent a prohibition on X, it's rational for many individuals to do X, but that prohibiting X would serve the common good. The rationality of doing X (polluting, investing in tax havens, defrauding investors, etc.) is generally the basis for thinking that regulation of Xing is required.
The hypocrisy here entirely escapes me. I don't understand why libertarians pretend not to understand this, but it's not at all hypocritical to simultaneously say "insofar as X is permitted it's rational for me to do X, and therefore I will do X" and also "X should not be permitted." Generally the idea is that absent a prohibition on X, it's rational for many individuals to do X, but that prohibiting X would serve the common good. The rationality of doing X (polluting, investing in tax havens, defrauding investors, etc.) is generally the basis for thinking that regulation of Xing is required.
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