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McArdle has described herself as a "right-leaning libertarian."[23] David Brooks categorized her as part of a group of bloggers who "start from broadly libertarian premises but do not apply them in a doctrinaire way.
McArdle began blogging in November 2001 with a blog called "Live From The WTC," which arose from her employment with a construction firm involved in cleanup at the World Trade Center site following the September 11 attacks. She wrote under the pen name "Jane Galt," playing on the name "John Galt," a central character in Ayn Rand's Objectivist novel Atlas Shrugged. In November 2002 she renamed the site "Asymmetrical Information," a reference to the economics term of the same name. That blog had two other occasional contributors, Zimran Ahmed (writing under the pen name "Winterspeak"), and the pseudonymous "Mindles H. Dreck."
McCardle was an outspoken supporter of the Iraq War both before and after the invasion by the United States. She later made a partial admission of error for this position [10]
Another post by McArdle, from April 2005, discusses why she takes no position on the issue of same-sex marriage. She wrote: "All I'm asking for is for people to think more deeply than a quick consultation of their imaginations to make that decision... This humility is what I want from liberals when approaching market changes; now I'm asking it from my side [libertarians], in approaching social ones."[11]
In 2009, she criticized an article in Playboy by eXile Online editors Mark Ames and Yasha Levine which detailed the influence of the Koch brothers in American and Tea Party politics. Playboy took down the article as a result of the negative response.[13]
McArdle has been critical of the libertarian politician Ron Paul, taking him to task for not strongly disavowing racist statements that appeared in his newsletters,[25] arguing against his championing of tax credits, and accusing him of lacking specificity about cutting government spending.[26] McArdle was also quoted as saying that Ron Paul "doesn't understand anything about monetary policy," and that "he wastes all of his time on the House Financial Services Committee ranting crazily."[27]
Lol
Since 2009, McArdle has argued extensively against instituting a system of national health insurance in the United States, and specifically against the federal health care reform bill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in March 2010. In addition to a number of blog posts on the subject, she also wrote an article, "Myth Diagnosis," in the March 2010 Atlantic.[31]
In a July 2009 blog post, McArdle listed two reasons that she objected to such a system: first, that it would stifle innovation, because "Monopolies are not innovative, whether they are public or private," and second, that "Once the government gets into the business of providing our health care, the government gets into the business of deciding whose life matters, and how much."[32] Commentator Ezra Klein of The Washington Post criticized this post, writing, "In 1,600 words, she doesn't muster a single link to a study or argument, nor a single number that she didn't make up (what numbers do exist come in the form of thought experiments and assumptions). Megan's argument against national health insurance boils down to a visceral hatred of the government."[33]
In an August 2009 post, McArdle reiterated, "My objection is primarily, as I've said numerous times, that the government will destroy innovation. It will do this by deciding what constitutes an acceptable standard of care, and refusing to fund treatment above that. It will also start controlling prices."[34]
In a comment to that post, McArdle stated, "The United States currently provides something like 80–90% of the profits on new drugs and medical devices. Perhaps you think you can slash profits 80% with no effect on the behavior of the companies that make these products. I don't." In a subsequent Washington Post online chat, a commenter asked her, "You said that medical innovation will be wiped out if we have a type of national health care, because European drug companies get 80% of their revenue from Americans. Where did you get this statistic?" McArdle responded that it was "a hypothetical, not a statistic." This was criticized in a blog post in The New Republic.[35] In response to this criticism, McArdle stated that she had misunderstood the question, and "thought the commenter was referring to the postulated hypothetical destruction of all US profits." She also stated that, though "there are no hard numbers available," she estimated that the U.S. contribution to pharmaceutical profits was at least 60%.[36]
McArdle married Peter Suderman, an associate editor for the libertarian magazine Reason, in 2010.[37]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_McArdle
This woman is a Libertarian ass and her views come from the highest levels of privilege.
That argument against universal healthcare, though. 🤯
I can't honestly believe that she thinks the government cares any less about people's lives than a corporation?
The real argument she wants to make is "pharmaceutical companies make lots of money, and if I tell people they're a good thing then I make money, too!"
The whole "stifling innovation" argument is laughable. Health insurance conglomerates are known for their innovation. Innovating increasingly shitty ways to fuck over the patient and the healthcare provider.
It doesn't take a genius to look around, especially in "rural America", and see that the healthcare system(s) is on the verge of collapse. And healthcare systems all over the country keep screaming this at anyone who will listen, right up until the point they go bankrupt.
Health issurance companies are a huge contributor to this problem. You would get more value for your money, or at least get more of it back, if you took what you spend on health insurance premiums and dumped it into a Las Vegas casino slot machine.
she takes no position on the issue of same-sex marriage. She wrote: “All I’m asking for is for people to think more deeply than a quick consultation of their imaginations to make that decision…"
Or, don't think about it at all. Either it affects you, or it doesn't. I don't see how it needs much thought.
Exactly, my thoughts were always "well i guess they can be as miserable as the rest of us married folks, misery does love company after all."
But Fr I'd never have supported gay marriage on the level that I do if the conservatives weren't fighting so hard against it. it's simple, let consenting adults love who they love, anything else is over thinking it or pushing religion on the rest of us.
“Why won’t somebody consider how it affects straight people that gay people can marry each other?”
Yikes on bikes. Also holy hell being the libertarian that tries to get libertarians to pump the brakes on gay marriage really is a decision.
Also I have to say this every time someone says that National healthcare means the government decides who lives and who dies: the current situation led to a private corporation deciding my mom had enough tries of chemo and so they sentenced her to death. Was it the right decision? Maybe but it wasn’t doctors deciding and I don’t get to vote on the bosses of the people deciding.