The media have written Michael Bloomberg’s political obituary since his performance in the NBC Democratic debate on Wednesday night, but he has experienced a series of damaging leaks since he entered the presidential race. Many of these were self-inflicted wounds that reveal his concerning approach to work. One of these formed the basis of this week’s Acton Commentary, “Michael Bloomberg’s fatal conceit.”

Video has surfaced showing Bloomberg saying that farming took less “gray matter” than work in the modern information economy. This week’s Acton Commentary faults Bloomberg less for his views of ancient agriculture than for his statement, “I could teach anybody … to be a farmer.”

The Nanny State notion that the state has the correct answer for every citizen, in every case, es genuinely destructive when applied to business. Bloomberg, whose eponymous news service publishes valuable and perceptive financial information, has a greater understanding of trade and markets than many others in the presidential race. He, and all petitors, must learn that regulation destroys wealth, stifles economic growth, and substitutes the voice of the regulators for the “rhythms and logic” infused into all creation by divine providence.

Read the mentary here.

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