New World Order, Inc.

Nov 22, 2013 15:52

Just yesterday, I read that the belief "that we could have utopian prosperity if we got rid of private businesses and had the government run everything" should be marked down to "stubborn stupidity." Fair enough. As hyperbolic and Straw Manned-up as that statement is, thwarting all independent economic activity would be a bit delusional, given ( Read more... )

intellectual property, democracy, international law, colonialism, trade

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peristaltor November 25 2013, 02:39:39 UTC
That's not skewing to the right. You're using a political spectrum to describe a non-political setting.

No. Economics has always been political. Most schools that taught the subject before the turn of the last century, in fact, called themselves schools of political economics. The slow change to calling economics a "science" rather than a series of political observations, in fact, has led to the confusion you so ably demonstrate. That, in turn, has allowed the right-ward shift to occur unnoticed by many. Including, it seems, yourself.

Citation needed.

Fair enough.

A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university.

A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise."

Did you notice the appropriate use of the phrase "political economy" there?

You're looking at a minor reflective influence and calling it the driving force.

The assumptions at the base of a society's decision making are at the heart of how that society behaves. Such core assumptions can therefore hardly be called "minor."

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