In his post today on money, Arnold writes:

However, as you know, I prefer to think of money as designed top down, to serve the needs of government.

But shouldn’t what you “prefer to think” count for literally zero? What if I prefer to think that taxation has no deadweight loss and that the government will spend our money more efficiently than we would? Shouldn’t people object that my preferences about x have nothing to do with what’s true about x?

A better way to pursue truth on an historical issue is to check the history.