David Brooks, Medicare, and the Perils of Ideological Labeling

Like Matt Yglesias and David Brooks, I have a healthy respect for the ability of free markets, if designed properly, to solve problems. But Matt makes an interesting point about using ideological labeling to perform analysis:

If you read the column, I think that what you'll find is that basically all the analytical work is being done by a project of ideological labeling. Brooks describes this as a plan that works "through a market system" featuring "normal market incentives." He twice calls it a "market-based approach" and once refers to critics as scoffing at "market-based strategies." The idea of a market has positive emotional resonance with many people, so if you convince them that you have a "market-based" alternative to price controls that will sound good. But a system of government-funded subcontractors is only market-based if you squint at it really funny. Or, rather, it's very much a market but it's a market for political influence.