tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post4519822274876187976..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: The Best Book on the MarketIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-52545756389599876282008-05-27T09:19:00.000+01:002008-05-27T09:19:00.000+01:00Isn't "faintly reeks" an oxymoron?Isn't "faintly reeks" an oxymoron?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-21344086842546057442008-05-25T11:21:00.000+01:002008-05-25T11:21:00.000+01:00Iain, since when were books on the basics of econo...Iain, since when were books on the basics of economics either unusual or by default 'right wing'?<BR/><BR/>Markets are neither left nor right, but a neutral tool, right wing govts the world over have used command-control effects just as left wing ones have used markets. Markets are liberal, as was Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.<BR/><BR/>I've had this book on my "to read" list since I heard about it, it looks quite good, and will probably be better at helping me explain markets that, for example Harford's Undercover Economist, which is very pro-market and normally available in the bestseller section or special offer section of most station bookstores.<BR/><BR/>If you perpetually label markets as a "right wing" thing,t hen those of us on the left who also favour them strongly find it harder and harder to persuade people they're not evil—which is why you get corporatist idiocies such as PFI from left leaning Govts.MatGBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02821264556751176639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-70511062546414317052008-05-24T21:24:00.000+01:002008-05-24T21:24:00.000+01:00Unfair, anonymous. I'm not saying the market is al...Unfair, anonymous. I'm not saying the market is always perfect - on the contrary. It wouldn't work if it was perfect. Markets are human and human beings are never perfect. But politicians are human too – and whenever they try to 'perfect' the market they seem to create the opposite of what they intended.Eamonn Butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15170720613395490721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-55195138598491261722008-05-24T18:35:00.000+01:002008-05-24T18:35:00.000+01:00Yeah, lovely, Hayekian economics is wonderful, can...Yeah, lovely, Hayekian economics is wonderful, cannot be tampered with in any way, any and all solutions involving state intervention are automatically bad, any and all solutions involving the private sector are brilliant.<BR/><BR/>Even if the end result turns out a cock up, it can't be a bad thing. Let's privatise the health service entirely and let poor people die of curable diseases. Can't be that bad if dogma is fulfilled.<BR/><BR/>This debate's been done to death. You lost; even Thatcher didn't implement the loopier ideas. The Tory Party's moved on from these sub-undergraduate drivellings - this is not unrelated to its pick up in the polls compared to the last decade or so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-9714018007315816412008-05-24T17:58:00.000+01:002008-05-24T17:58:00.000+01:00It's funny when proponents of free markets get all...It's funny when proponents of free markets get all up in arms when the end result doesn't satisfy their expectations. A good contemporary example would be the labour market - surely conservatives ought not to want to impose restrictions on immigration? Or what about denationalising the NHS so that we can have a competitive healthcare market?<BR/><BR/>I used to think conservatism was askin to libertarianism, but it seems not. Perhaps they used to be more similar, or perhaps the definition is somewhat in the UK and US?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-8280191713898058132008-05-24T17:56:00.000+01:002008-05-24T17:56:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Praguetoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16520923731691837948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-72271998506327985592008-05-24T17:55:00.000+01:002008-05-24T17:55:00.000+01:00I am sure it's a good book, but not one I need to ...I am sure it's a good book, but not one I need to read.Praguetoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16520923731691837948noreply@blogger.com