

Economics Doesn’t Believe in Magic - Falcon9
https://push.cx/2015/economics-doesnt-believe-in-magic

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astazangasta
This is some seriously Marxist shit. Vast inequality underpinned by a monopoly
on violence is the inevitable product of trade in commodities? Not
disagreeing, just saying... Not everyone is on this page.

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bitwize
Read your Chomsky.

The twenty-first century will be remembered as the time when the ideas that
capital is power, and free exchange of capital inevitably leads to a power law
distribution where the few control the bulk of resources, are no longer
theoretical musings of "Marxist" intellectuals, but widely accepted as natural
law. Laissez-faire economics will be obsoleted by the acknowledgement of these
laws as surely as royalism was obsoleted by the Enlightenment.

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leereeves
I think the idea that capital is power is already widely accepted. The problem
is that the alternatives to laissez-faire economics are corruption and
cronyism.

Is there any society where the government can be trusted to regulate the
economy without favoring the powerful and perpetuating inequality?

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Abraln
I have thought about this a fair bit, and it seems like the only real way to
completely eliminate such risk would be a benevolent AI overlord, as the
problem you mentioned is rooted in human nature. Realistically though, high
transparency and strict regulation of money in politics to prevent tribalism
is a good idea. An 'all campaign donations must be anonymous to the recipient'
law would be unfeasible, so limiting contribution amounts severely is the only
way. Unfortunately, even doing this would not change the fact that most
politicians are in the same social group as the wealthy and powerful, so it is
an imperfect solution. People inevitably show favoritism towards those they
are friends with, so minimizing the effect any one person/group can have is
key. This is why I agree with George Washington, political parties should not
be a thing, they cause far more trouble than they are worth.

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legitster
This was bad. Really bad. The word "economics" is used, but with such disdain
for anyone who has ever picked up a book on the subject that was not Das
Kapital.

