The economic stiumlus package for electronic medical records-We are from the government and we are here to help

The following comments by Arnold Kling as quoted in the blog EclectEcon might be worth thinking about as we read about the amount of money ( 20 billion) that is planned for providing the means for most U.S. citizens to have an electronic medical record by 2014 according to the stimulus or recovery plan of the new administration.

It is true that markets have been overwhelmed by today's information problems, and consequently resources are unemployed. However, the ultimate solution of where resources belong is not known by government officials any more than it is known by private investors. A large "fiscal stimulus" is, ultimately, a major transfer of power away from the trial-and-error process of entrepreneurial markets and instead toward the bureaucratic planning process. It is not clear to me that technocrats have suddenly acquired the wisdom that would justify such a transfer. In fact, while they may have an air of certitude, they may know even less than usual about the best future direction for economic resources.

Here is the entire lecture by Dr. Kling.