The latest column by the Hoover Institution's Thomas Sowell quotes Friedrich Hayek and then goes on to caution: "Even under serfdom and slavery, experience forced those with power to recognize the limits of their power. What this administration -- and especially the President -- does not have is experience. Barack Obama had no experience running even the most modest business, and personally paying the consequences of his mistakes, before becoming President of the United States."
Mr. Obama should probably get some credit for running his campaign, which, while not a business, was nonetheless a large and complex managerial undertaking that involved the expenditure of a lot of money and the motivation of a lot of individuals. Neither of his main opponents in the 2008 campaign, Senator McCain and Senator Clinton, had much experience running a business, either, though Ms. Clinton did serve as a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors. But on the basic point of the limits of power, Mr. Sowell is, as he so often is, on target.
