More laws!

In a comment to Conrad's criticism of Meagan McArdle's hand-wringing about letting people borrow against their 401k's, mdmhvonpa writes,

I worked at a major credit card company for a few years and as a bank officer, I was required to do 8 hours of customer service a month. What I learned about people and fiscal reponsibility turned my stomach. If you are not socking away 15-30% of your income a year (50% liquid assets) you are bound to use a revolving credit line as a crutch at some time.

As a state-employed educator, instead of a 401k the IRS permits me to invest either in a 403b (Tax-Sheltered Annuity) or a 457 (deferred compensation). I have no idea if this new product would allow me to borrow against it, and I can't imagine the circumstances where I would. But it's true, many people are irresponsible, so just maybe the libertarian ideal would not work for them. Do responsible people really have be sacrificed for the sake of the irresponsible.