Why I Am Not a Libertarian

In many ways I am, but I find hard-core libertarianism to be one-dimensional and boring. It has little practical significance because realistically, Galt's Gulch isn't anywhere on the horizon. Advocating libertarianism, in my mind, is useful only if you are trying to shift the center. It doesn't represent a recipe for a long-term successful nation.

Anyway, that all stems from Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz's book From Poverty to Prosperity. I have been enjoying it and wanted to take a quote from their interview with Paul Romer:

One interesting example of a beneficial government action was when the FAA started forcing the airlines to report on-time performance for their flights. This led to really big changes in how the airlines did their scheduling, and on time performance went up dramatically...

Good example of a reform that market participants would likely not have undertaken on their own that has huge benefits for everyone. The book, so far, is full of stories like this, and I have been thoroughly enjoying it. Kudos to Kling and Schulz on a very good story!