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by Mark Milke of the Fraser Institute

Milton Friedman once said his greatest fear about the 1979 bailout of Chrysler by the U.S. federal government was not that it would fail, but that it would succeed. Mr. Friedman did not mean he was wrong to oppose it. What concerned him was how Chrysler's rescue (approved by the U.S. Congress in late 1979 and signed into law by then-president Jimmy Carter in 1980) might lead some to draw the wrong conclusion: the notion that such actions save jobs, among other illusions.

An example of an errant summary arrived again recently from federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Mr. Flaherty held a press conference with members of the Canadian Auto Workers union and Chrysler. They were there to trumpet how the most recent Chrysler bailout, in 2009, was a "success" because Chrysler has repaid some -- but not all -- of the money it owes Canadian taxpayers.

Several commentators followed up with praise for the government and taxpayer largesse. They argued opposition to such corporate welfare was based on neo-classical economics and "dogmatic impulses."

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