My Letter to the Wall Street Journal re: EU Responds to Volcano Disaster

Sent: Mon 4/19/10 8:43 AM
To: Wall Street Journal (wsj.ltrs@wsj.com)


Re: EU Politicians Step In As Volcanic Ash Losses Mount

Dear Sirs:
There is nothing that the EU can do to stop or ameliorate the economic damage from the volcanic eruption in Iceland. All it can do is socialize the cost. In contrast, the EU should reduce all manner of regulations that prevent the market economy from responding in a rational way to this disaster. But it is more likely that the EU will take measures that will make it more difficult for people to respond positively in the millions of ways that no one can direct, because it will see this disaster as a means to increase its own regulatory power.

Patrick Barron
Adjunct Instructor in Austrian Economics
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa