Jaysus Horatio Christ. Someone in the Economist office has been asleep at the wheel. Another less than woolly editorial? Only a month after the last one? Something must be wrong in the street of Saint James…

The rule of law is a wonderful thing, as anyone who has visited countries ruled by the whims of the powerful can attest. But you can have too much of a wonderful thing. And America has far too much law, argues Mr Howard in a new book, “Life without Lawyers”. For nearly every problem, lawmakers and bureaucrats imagine that more detailed rules are the answer. But people need to exercise their common sense, too. Alas, the proliferation of rules is making that harder.

Note to the world of government: when faced with a problem largely caused by too many poorly written rules, the cure is not to make more rules. The cure is more likely to be less rules. Or, at the very least, less poorly written and overly specific rules.

And the Economist tells us this in plain language. How about that?

Tell you what, Micklethwait must be on holiday over December and January. Editorials like these are remnants of the good old classically liberal Economist. None of the new and bullshit nonsense that’s been taking over the place since he was given the helm…