And the banning of slavery is likewise an outrageous intrusion by government into the free market. Should not people have the right to sell themselves into slavery if they so wish? And should not people be free to buy and sell slaves in the free market with their prices being set by the sacred forces of supply and demand? Such unwarranted government interference creates an artificial shortage of slave labor which drives up the wage rates of free labor generally and leads to a decrease in overall economic efficiency. This outrageous interference by Big Government in the operations of the free market must be stopped!
Jim F. -----------------
Jim Farmelant's question for Posner, "Should not people have the right to sell themselves into slavery if they wish?", takes us a bit further back than Andrew Jackson.
One of Posner's fellow law and economics conservatives, Dracon, was appointed as extraordinary legislator of Athens to codify penalties for crimes against property and persons, and to provide a system by which disputes and penalties could be settled before a counsel of the Eupatrids. Until this codification in 621 BC which took the form of government legal meddling in the affairs of the marketplace, a creditor was free to extract whatever penalty he wished from the debtor, including of course dismemberment and death. This was the preferred remedy by lenders, since such practices served to emphasize the importance of keeping accounts paid in a timely fashion. After the Draconian reforms however, the creditor had to present his case before a counsel and was reduced to accepting amputations or slavery in exchange for the money owed.
Chuck Grimes