In These Times

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• • 25 May 07
  • 6:16 pm

  Hayes says: "The consensus economic model that he subscribes to—and that forms the worldview of the economists that he cites as definitive—is grounded on the assumption that people are rational." In terms of economics yes. But there is a difference when it comes to voting and politics. Views on economic policy are easy to have since the gain in learning more about policies doesn't really deliver any direct benefit. This is very different from personal economic decisions in the context of the marketplace where how we behave economically has a very direct impact and any knowledge directly helps....meaning that logic matters …

  Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?

• • 26 May 07
  • 2:09 pm

  Whattheheck, Paragraphs 1-2: My point was there is a difference between a rational consumer and rational voter. The effects of personal choices are felt while the effects of political choices are felt less directly. For example, most (and I do mean nearly all) professional economists are in agreement that free trade is a net benefit for society...by far. Anf that impediments to free trade hurt our economy. This is based on sound economic principle and does NOT ignore that it will temporarily hurt some. Yet people, based on faulty merchantilist logic, have a problem with free trade and for the wrong …

  Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?

• • 26 May 07
  • 4:56 pm

  Agreed Kulthur. I confess I used to hold tentative leftist views on economics trying to find balance between this mindset "subjective fairness", the "need" for government to enact this "fairness" and desire to see business flourish so people could live better lives. Perhaps because I was trying to be objective to both sides, I missed the core problem and the answer was there all along: Government's help yields poor results in most cases. Much of what is reviled and fought against on an economic level has more to do with bad, inefficient policies that do not fix the problem and muddle …

  Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?

• • 27 May 07
  • 12:53 pm

  Whattheheck, (scorp, see below the line) Thanks for the repsonses. Rational consumer: The consumer IS rational. Let's not change what "rational" means. WHERE the product comes from, as far as I understand, is not a component of rational consumption...it is simply based on cost and benefit. Person X's desire for product A justifies the price as opposed to another choice based on his benefit. People simply don't discriminate on where the product comes from. PERHAPS, it could be proven that side by side, product A "MADE IN USA" next to product B "MADE IN CHINA" may (MAY) result in a preference …

  Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?

• • 27 May 07
  • 1:20 pm

  Matt W. Firstly, I said FREE trade. See the quote. Then you used fair trade. Fair trade is an obscure term with subjective meanings. I don't like it. secondly, you said: "At the very least government has to police trade activity so that, for instance, I can’t point a gun at you and demand your big screen TV without at least some fear of negative consequence. There also needs to be some form of contract enforcement, definition of private property (a concept created by and only meaningful within governed political systems), and dispute arbitration." That's not about trade policy. That's matters …

  Posted to Who's Afraid of Democracy?