This story in the Wall Street Journal is instructive because it reminds us that even if we secretly acknowledge that it might feel good to round up doom and gloom economists, it is a horrible way to run a democracy and indeed, proves that the nation in question - Latvia - is hardly "free" by any objective standards: Hammered by economic woe, this former Soviet republic recently took a novel step to contain the crisis. Its counterespionage agency busted an economist for being too downbeat."All I did was say what everyone knows," says Dmitrijs Smirnovs, a 32-year-old university lecturer detained by Latvia's Security Police. The force is responsible for hunting down spies, terrorists and other threats to this Baltic nation of 2.3 million people and 26 banks.Now free after two days of questioning, Mr. Smirnovs hasn't been charged. But he is still under investigation for bad-mouthing the stability of Latvia's banks and the national currency, the lat....(Read Full Post)