limited liability

Imagine that instead of drivers being licensed to drive, automobiles are. Now imagine that you took your newly licensed car out for a drive, and decided to test its redline, lost control, and smashed into three other cars before plowing through the plate-glass window of a market. Now imagine that you have no insurance. It’s not a legal requirement. And yet nonetheless, you still have no liability – the result of a government-granted fiat that absolves you completely of any responsibility. Your car will be impounded and destroyed, naturally, but you are free to move on to the next car and try for better driving luck next time.

Is this a comparable analogy to the environmental and economic effects of Limited Liability Corporations? I’m not sure, but there’s some interesting discussion on the topic available, via Kevin Carson.