BlueGhostNo2 wrote:...
Incidentally I'm curious to know what regulation you think is required to create the most efficient market? What defines the 'free market' position you favor? I presume property law features, does environmental law?
After reading your posts there doesn't seem like there's that much difference between your position and mine.
however it's my observation...
The most common disagreement between FM free-market supporters and ME mixed economies seems to be what government is capable of doing. ME supporters believe that government can "stimulate" the economy while FM supporters believe that's impossible.
For example:
1) "seed money" argument
A nation may want to advance it's economy by encouraging the expansion of a certain industry say ship building.
Obviously that's not an industry that is easy to ramp up on it's own so the government may subsidize the industry.
A ME would say, "if we put in 'seed money' then the industry will grow and yield financial benefits many times over our original costs."
A FM supporter like say Margaret Thatcher might say, "There is nothing more permanent then a temporary government program."
I personally agree wholeheartedly.
I believe that anything that was created by a subsidy will almost definitely require that subsidy to continue its existence.
What's the FM solution? ---> Do nothing.
If the ship building industry cannot expand on it's own then that's the way things should be.
A subsidy does nothing but rob money from a healthy industry only to redirect it into a sick industry.
2) "revitalize" argument
A city's downtown district was once a vibrant center but is now on hard times. What should gov. do?
A ME supporter might say something absolutely ridiculous like, "lets build a light rail line to revitalize the downtown!"
A FM supporter would say *EVERYBODY NOW* --> "do nothing."
If something cannot survive on it's own then that means it should die-off.
The concept of expansion and collapse is just a normal part of the business cycle. Things go up and sometimes they go down.
If a business is going down that means society no longer has an interest in purchasing its goods or service and therefore government should respect that decision by NOT manipulating the market.
Those 2 points probably make up 75% of the disagreements between ME and FM supporters.