Dear NY Times: Paul Krugman's Treason

Editor, The New York Times

620 Eighth Avenue

New York, NY 10018

To the Editor:

Paul Krugman asserts that those of us who oppose government regulation to deal with climate change are committing "treason against the planet" ("Betraying the Planet," June 29).

It's more accurate to say that Mr. Krugman is committing treason against reasoned debate. One of the most compelling arguments against climate-change regulation is not that global warming isn't occurring but, rather, that the dangers of further regulation far outweigh its likely benefits. Government regulation inevitably is a political animal; it's never guided purely, or even largely, by disinterested science.

Is it treasonous to worry about the influence of interest-groups on regulation? Is it treasonous to fear that centralizing more power in Washington will result in unforeseen negative consequences? Is it treasonous to believe that the threat to our well-being posed by further constraints upon markets is worse than is the threat posed by higher temperatures?

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux

Don Boudreaux is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University and a Business & Media Institute adviser.