A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

I say "attempting to trash," of course, because the attempts themselves are so woefully unconvincing. Another effort was recently made to make Friedman look bad--this time, by trying to tie the recent outbreak of E. coli to the implementation of free market policies.

Fortunately, Russell Roberts won't sit still for it. And as he points out, in countries where Friedman's economic views are hardly gospel, there have been major E. coli outbreaks as well. You would think that Paul Krugman would take note of this and perhaps come to the conclusion that Milton Friedman is hardly the causal factor in the outbreak of E. coli. Alas, you would be wrong.

Look, I realize that it must be hard for Krugman to play Salieri to Friedman's Mozart. And I realize that it must be tempting for Krugman to kill off the legacy of the Master in order to perhaps seem masterful himself. But as A Very Wise Person Once Said, you never build yourself up by trying to tear someone else down.

Especially when the attempt to tear someone else down is conducted in so ham-handed and transparent a fashion.