On Mar 29, 10:19 am, Jerry Kraus
yahoo.com> wrote:> On Mar 29, 10:04 am, "John Galt"
bluebottle.com> wrote:
>
>
>>> "ajames54"
hotmail.com> wrote in message>
>
>>> On Mar 28, 3:34 pm, Vide...@
tcq.net wrote:
>>>> On Mar 28, 12:28 pm, Jerry Kraus
yahoo.com> wrote:>
>>>> what i find hilarious, outside of a couple of complete libertarian
>>>> cranks, where have all of the defenders of laissez-faire gone?
>>>> where is their outrage, why are they not publicly, and proudly
>>>> announcing their adherence to libertarian dogma, and renouncing their
>>>> investments in the markets.
>>>> after all, they to are the indirect beneficiaries of the bailouts.
>>>> you would think that they would be fleeing the markets, whilst
>>>> proclaiming their beliefs. i see none of that.
>
>>> Actually I would call myself a free marketer.
>
>>> I've expected this outcome for a couple years I am really surprised
>>> that it took this long to come about. Hell not only did I expect it,
>>> I've even bet on it. All those puts I bought that expired worthless I
>>> looked on as the cost of doing business, now that I should be hugely
>>> in the money the Fed steps in to screw me over.
>
>>> Well in all honesty there haven't been that many puts ...because while
>>> I believe in a free market I know that we do not have one. Anyone who
>>> saw this coming could just as easily seen the response...
>
>>> In my opinion is the stupid thing was all the morons defending the
>>> current system as though laissez-faire was what we had. To call what
>>> we have a free market is to indulge in Orwellian double speak of the
>>> first order.
>
>> Well, right. There hasn't been a laissez-faire system since prior to the
>> Industrial Revolution.
>
>> JG- Hide quoted text -
>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Modern economists regularly take Adam Smith's quote about the
> "invisible hand" in the "Wealth of Nations", circa 1776, totally out
> of context. Firstly, he was talking about a world without mass
> communication, and with very slow transportation. The potential for
> monopolistic business practices was very limited. Businesses were
> small business, almost by definition. Secondly, Adam Smith himself
> emphasized that "Greed" -- the basis of Capitalism, and the "invisible
> hand" -- only works well sometimes, not all the time. The government
> must regularly intervene to ensure that the welfare of the citizens as
> a whole is not undermined by the greedy few. Taxes, health care,
> education, the military are necessary government perogatives, greed as
> a motivator notwithstanding. Right-wing economic evangelists like
> Thomas Sowell seem to have missed this small point, perhaps
> intentionally!
correct again, smith and ricardo worked out their theories long
before the industrial revolution changed the world. but there work
came up short because the revolution changed the world so much. but
their work was quickly hijacked by market fundamentalists who saw
their short comings.
