I watched a recording of last week’s Stossel today, and was struck by something that Johan Norberg said.

I’m paraphrasing, but in response to Stossel’s mentioning the concern about wealth inequality, Norberg said something like “Those who are primarily concerned about wealth inequality hate wealth more than they hate poverty.”

Now, I know that this isn’t true about everyone concerned about wealth inequality, but those who are aware of the tremendous advancement that the poor have made due to markets should be cautious about calling for too much interference and redistribution. Unless, as Norberg says, they are more concerned with taking from the wealthy than the are for the longterm welfare of the poor.

It was a great point.