Market Myth-Makers 1
One of the shibboleths of the right wing is the belief in “The Market” as some kind of impartial and implacable external force that exists apart of government.
This supports their ardent faith in deregulation. “Deregulate,” they say, “and The Market will just fix everything.”
It’s almost a form of idolatry, worshipping engraven bits of paper, rather than graven images.
At Asia Times, George Friedman argues that the separation of market and state ain’t necessarily so, even when viewed through the lens of Adam Smith. A snippet:
The followers of Adam Smith may believe in an autonomous economic sphere disengaged from politics, but Adam Smith was far more subtle. That’s why he called his greatest book the Wealth of Nations. It was about wealth, but it was also about nations. It was a work of political economy that teaches us a great deal about the moment we are in.
August 12, 2011 at 12:19 pm
The idolaters never seem to have read Wealth of Nations or to know of its predicate work — The Theory of Moral Sentiments. This work argues for morality and justice as a basic human condition — certainly before capitalism.
It interests me that there are so many of these idolaters looking for the government to “deregulate” but who will twist their arguments every which way from Sunday to make sure that businesses get the maximum amount of money transferred to them from taxpayers.