A guest-blog at Volokh by Cass Sunstein on libertarian paternalism. Hopefully we will see more writings on the subject.
Unlike some hardcore libertarians, I am sympathetic to the idea of libertarian paternalism, particularly the “one-click” variety that Cass mentions. In any case, as even libertarian opponents of the idea will agree, libertarian paternalism is certainly a huge improvement over the pervasive (and coercive) paternalism that exists today, and will possibly be easier to implement than full-blown libertarianism. Of course, the crucial point in libertarian paternalism is the ease of opt-out; if you make the default too hard to change, you take the libertarian out of the phrase.
