by Lawrence W. Reed

About the author: Lawrence W. Reed is an economist and author. He is the president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market educational and research organization based in Michigan.

Should government enact laws to subsidize “alternative” fuels so that people will use less gasoline? Should government mandate the use of electric cars or other vehicles that don’t use gasoline at all"

Even without expert knowledge of the issues involved, anyone who values liberty will be inclined to answer both questions in the negative. Subsidies are a forcible transfer of wealth from those who have earned it to those who didn’t. Likewise, mandates are edicts that carry penalties for noncompliance. Use of gasoline for transportation purposes would not seem to be the sort of...