I was all set to become outraged at Matthew Yglesias' endorsement of mandatory automotive breathalyzers but a nameless commentator made me smile with this, "You'll also need a law prohibiting sober people from hanging around bars at closing time and blowing into other people's breathalyzers for ten bucks a shot."
Yes you would.
It also made me think about the larger question of how many businesses out there today exist solely to provide the functional workaround to the nanny state? What is their GDP? What would be the estimated increase in wealth if the capital used up to provide such parasitical 'compliance/avoidance' businesses were put to more productive uses? Even among the free market true believers, is anybody toting up the full cost?
$10 for starting up a drinker's car at closing time, heh. And I just know how they'd do it to avoid liability, hand blown balloon sales.
Posted by TMLutas at February 19, 2004 03:40 PM