This morning, I listened to this Cato Podcast featuring gay British MP Nick Herbert, discussing the benefits of the recent changes in the Conservative Party towards equal rights for gay people in the UK. I was very impressed.

As a libertarian, I’ve never thought that it was proper for the government to favor or disfavor people because of their sexual orientation. And, just as a modern, sensible (I hope) person, I find prejudice against gay people to be stupid and repulsive.

Also, as a purely practical, strategic, political matter, I think that conservatives in general and the Republican Party in particular would be wise to heed Herbert’s call and stop supporting anti-gay public policy measures. Young people are overwhelmingly more tolerant of differences in sexual orientation than their elders, and will be likely to oppose the groups that they find hateful and backwardly stupid. The demographic trend is away from supporters of such policies.

You don’t have to find the behavior personally appealing, but to promote legal sanctions against those who do is irrational on many levels.

I’m experimenting with a new web host. Things will probably be broken occasionally while I try things out. I appreciate your patience. Re-using this post to test posting from a new computer…

This is a bit late, but if you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely check out the Hayek vs. Keynes “Fear the Boom and Bust” rap video currently on the home page of econstories.tv.

It might be a little too econ-geeky for many, but it seems like a fun way to exhibit good information about a serious debate that’s still with us.

Enjoy!