2011-07-09

Boettke Gives Stiglitz a Chance

A recent post of Prof. Boettke's over on the Austrian School economics blog Coordination Problem asks how best to respond to Joseph Stiglitz' argument that the free market has completely failed and we need government to save us.

Well, gee whiz. Any takers? We might as well be asking how best to convince Jefferson Davis to become a Yankee.

I am joining this discussion late, but I want to point out that principles of debate date back to ancient Greece, where it was well-known that debate is pointless when there is disagreement at the "definition stasis."

Free marketeers share none of the core definitions with statists like Stiglitz. No response can be crafted, because we'll just get bogged-down in discussing what a "free market" is, what "success" or "failure" of said "free market" is, whether "right-wing ideology" is the same thing as a "free market," etc.

There is no point. You can't hold legitimate discussion with someone with whom you hold absolutely no common ground.

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