Scientism

[Warren Dew]

(07-10-2019, 12:19 AM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(07-09-2019, 10:23 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: I've never argued that there should be no government in the mix.  Government is needed to adjudicate contracts, for example.

The tendency to oligopoly is, however, a result of putting the government in the mix.  Government regulation provides an avenue for business success other than free market competition - namely, lobbying for regulation that will help particular companies, usually the incumbents, against competitors.

Since government inevitably sides with existing companies due to lobbying, some countervailing efforts to prevent existing companies from getting too big is necessary.

What about externialities like pollution, hogging up all the water, and natural monopolies?  I reckon the Gilded Age would be an example of free market nirvana, would it not?.  Then of course is a big fat problem, namely multinationals. Since these monsters have no actual country, who is gonna protect us from their predations? How on earth would contracts fix all these problems?

I gave contract adjudication as one valid use for government, not as the only one.  I agree that externalities are another such area, though I think they should be dealt with through uniform taxes rather than regulation, as taxes are less subject to regulatory capture by large corporations.  Multinationals still have to pay taxes, and are still subject to antitrust law, as witness the European antitrust rulings against Microsoft.

I would absolutely take the 60% wage growth over the 30 years of the Gilded Age over the less than 20% we've actually gotten over the past 30 years.

Quote:As for fixing some government overstretch.  Any law that is corporate welfare must be repealed. This includes subsidies either for the company or it's customers. Yup goodby for Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, The FED which is corporate welfare for banksters, student loan guarantees, and for a cherry on top.  The US should cease and desist patrolling sea lanes unless those who benefit pay for it. I'd also withdraw from the Mideast because all the costs there are for oil unless Big Oil pays for it, etc. and etc.  

 I agree with most of that.  The US does get "paid" for patrolling sea lanes, though; this is why dollars are the standard for international trade, and with everyone holding dollar reserves, dollar inflation acts as a tax on all the other nations.  It might or might not be a coincidence, but the value of this "inflation tax" is just about the same as the entire budget for the US Navy.