The Libertarian Approach to Contracts (eg GPS Speed Regulation)

[Declan McCullagh]

On Thu, Jul 05, 2001 at 12:04:52AM -0400, Riad S. Wahby wrote:
> It is the responsibility of the consumer to make sure that the terms
> of the contract are agreeable prior to entering the contract.  That
> doesn't leave them in an unprotected position, it leaves them in a
> position of power.  If they don't like the contract, they leave.
> Easy.

The clarity of Riad's message above is a welcome reprive from the
Choatian posts elsewhere in this thread.

It is true that companies may offer us contracts we don't like. It is
true that sometimes consumers will in fact have "little choice"
(though in a modern society where starvation is not the norm, they'll
always have some choice) when there's only one rental car firm in
town, for instance. But if they dislike the policies of that rental
car company to the extent they are willing to pay $100 for a cab to
the next city, they can vote with their pocketbook.

This may be an annoying situation on occasion, but nobody said
capitalism was perfect -- just that it's better than statism.

-Declan