[marketcorrection] Don Boudreaux: Raising My Temperature

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Posted by Don Boudreaux:
Raising My Temperature
http://marketcorrection.powerblogs.com/posts/1213016105.shtml


   11 January 2008
   The Editor, New York Times
   229 West 43rd St.
   New York, NY 10036
   To the Editor:
   Government officials in California now seek power to centrally control
   thermostats in private buildings ("California Seeks Thermostat
   Control," January 11). In an attempt to paint those who object to such
   government intrusion as alarmists, your reporter explains that "The
   fact that similar radio-controlled technologies have been used on a
   voluntary basis in irrigation systems on farm fields and golf courses
   and in limited programs for buildings on Long Island is seldom
   mentioned" by opponents of such power.
   Suppose Sacramento proposes to remotely control, in "emergency"
   situations, all newspaper presses. Would you remain sanguine about
   such government powers if someone explained that history is full of
   instances of the press voluntarily restraining itself?
   Sincerely,
   Donald J. Boudreaux
   Chairman, Department of Economics
   George Mason University