• In particular, people assume that determining the best-qualified employees for a given job is a straightforward task, reducible to a few simple rules that can be codified by regulators. In reality, it is one of the most complex decisions employers must make—a decision that can be made efficiently only in the context of the information generated by an unhampered, competitive marketplace.

• Because the Fallacy of Political Reductionism (to be discussed in the last subsection of Section 3) is so widespread, opponents of anti-discrimination laws are construed as enemies of class-C people and are therefore seen as evil. Few are willing to risk that stigma by addressing the objective consequences of these laws, and when they do so their arguments are immediately impugned on the basis of their alleged bigotry.

Here we have analyzed only a few of the most common forms of governmental intervention into the market. From the examples given, some general similarities among various interventions should be clear. In attempting to determine the consequences of a particular intervention, it will often be useful to ask certain basic questions, indicated on the next page.     

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