Pete Boettke on the Nobel Prize winners:

While we celebrate the brilliance of Messrs. Hurwicz, Maskin and Myerson, we should also remember that Hayek's challenge provided their inspiration. Hayek concluded that the private-property rights that come with the rule of law, freedom of contract, and freedom of association is still the one mechanism design that mobilizes and utilizes the dispersed information in an economy. Furthermore, it does so in a way that tends to capture the gains from trade and innovation so that wealth is continually created and humanity is made better off.

George Leef on Atlas Shrugged:

The message of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is that people of talent and ability who produce value for others are constantly harassed, taxed, vilified and exploited by moochers and parasites who use politics to get what they can't achieve through voluntary means of trade and persuasion ("Capitalist Heroes" by David Kelley, editorial page, Oct. 10). No better illustration of that could be given than the rest of your Oct. 10 editorial page, especially the stories on the demand for higher taxes on private equity firms and the destructive political wrangling over CAFÉ rules for automakers.

The Lilliputians have Gulliver tied down and are whooping for joy while planning how to slice him up.