Martha's guilty. Good.

My views on Martha Stewart seem to differ from most of what I've seen on the blogosphere. Back in September I got hammered by a bunch of libertarians for suggesting Martha deserves what she's getting. Now she's been found guilty and is probably going to jail. I feel pretty good about it.

Functioning markets depend on symmetrical information. Fair trade cannot happen when either the buyer or seller is partially blindfolded. The state has a legitimate role in ensuring this equality, it can be seen in such things as the regulation of scales and food inspection. Perfectly symmetrical information is an impossible ideal, of course, but obvious and arrogant infractions must be punished.