Economist Arnold Kling explains here the trouble we get into when we rely too much on intellectuals and experts to make big decisions.
He writes, “I think that the best protection from naive realism is having ideas tested in the market rather than imposed by monopoly government. The market will expose and weed out misconceptions. Government will not.”
True. In fact, when government power lies behind intellectual notions (e.g., Lysenko’s disastrous agricultural ideas), they can do untold damage to the mass of society while the intellectuals responsible are able to keep on living comfortably, dreaming up new schemes for the nation’s perfection.
(Hat tip: Don Boudreaux)