I find it hard to argue with what Mike Mooney is saying. Not to say I agree with what he's saying, just that I don't know of any good counter arguments that I feel could possible persuade Mike that some government intervention in the markets is necessary. The counter arguments exist, it's just that they don't seem to persuade the 'Road to Serfdom... See More' camp. To this camp, any intervention in the market place is one more step down a road that we *all* agree ends in a bad place. I used to be a member of that camp back in the 90s, but came to realize that, although the theories espoused in 'Road to Serfdom' may be sound, they don't translate well into the real world. I came to believe it's not possible for free markets to persist in the real world. Markets don't exist in a vacuum, they coexist within a framework containing many other systems. Political systems, banking systems, religious systems, energy distribution systems, information distribution systems, road systems, international treaty systems, extended family systems, etc, etc. Some of these system are fairly independent of the market system, others intersect and overlap the market system. The reason free markets fail in the real world is that unethical people use elements of these other systems to gain huge, unfair advantages within the market system. Some government intervention is necessary to help prevent these unfair advantages. Of course, government is another system existing within the overall framework that also contains the market system, and unethical people work hard at manipulating government to gain advantage in the market system. It's a big tangled mess of feedback loops that distort any chance for a truly free market to actually work correctly in the long term.
What to do about this mess? Keep on top of it, continue to make adjustments as we go along. Realize the world is full of flawed people and imperfect systems and know that the best we can do is muddle along, but the worst we can do is sit back and do nothing. Doing nothing and expecting it all to just work is the real Road to Serfdom.
What to do about this mess? Keep on top of it, continue to make adjustments as we go along. Realize the world is full of flawed people and imperfect systems and know that the best we can do is muddle along, but the worst we can do is sit back and do nothing. Doing nothing and expecting it all to just work is the real Road to Serfdom.
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