Nozick Says Liberty May Be Casualty Of Economic Woes

Misunderstandings over the cause of current economic crises may lead to a serious and unnecessary curtailment of freedom in the U.S., Robert Nozick, professor of Philosophy, said last night.

"There is no reason to believe Ford or anyone else in the government is going to think of any neat schemes to turn around the slackening economy," Nozick said.

"People will then say this crisis shows that capitalism can't work" he said, "when the truth is that capitalism has never really been tried."

"Most of the ills that people blame on the unfettered operation of the market are really the results of illegitimate government interventions," Nozick said. "Blaming the current economic problems on the market is yet another example of this."

Nozick spoke to more than 100 people at a meeting of the Center for the Study of Social Systems.