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The problem with that line of economic thinking is that it all hangs on the efficient market hypothesis, which has proved to be nowhere near as robust as most l

The problem with that line of economic thinking is that it all hangs on the efficient market hypothesis, which has proved to be nowhere near as robust as most libertarians claim. You are also assuming that taxes actually pay for things, which isn't really how modern monetary systems work (Governments who have their own central banks actually spend money into existence and taxes destroy money). So Governments do have an important issue to play being the monopoly issuer of money.

logicchains 9y ago
>The problem with that line of economic thinking is that it all hangs on the efficient market hypothesis, which has proved to be nowhere near as robust as most libertarians claim. It does not hinge on the efficient market hypothesis: at its most basic it's just built on the idea that in the general case people are more careful with their own money than they are with other peoples', which is an observation I don't think many people would disagree with. It can be also built on the assertion that people are more able to invest in things how they want if they can spend that money directly than if they have to do it through the incredibly indirect method of voting for a political party and then somehow transferring money to the government to invest, which doesn't seem particularly controversial. >You are also assuming that taxes actually pay for things, which isn't really how modern monetary systems work (Governments who have their own central banks actually spend money into existence and taxes destroy money). So Governments do have an important issue to play being the monopoly issuer of money. From an economic perspective there's not a huge difference between taxes and creating money in this sense: both involve a transfer of wealth from citizens to government. Wealth (or more abstractly, utility) is the fundamental unit of economics, not money.
- TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
  Considering the investment and banking industries are built on the claim that finance is more more careful with other people's money than its own, I'm not sure what you're basing that on. Of course you're correct in that it demonstrably isn't. But does that make your point about the politics of finance right, or wrong?

logicchains 9y ago

>The problem with that line of economic thinking is that it all hangs on the efficient market hypothesis, which has proved to be nowhere near as robust as most libertarians claim. It does not hinge on the efficient market hypothesis: at its most basic it's just built on the idea that in the general case people are more careful with their own money than they are with other peoples', which is an observation I don't think many people would disagree with. It can be also built on the assertion that people are more able to invest in things how they want if they can spend that money directly than if they have to do it through the incredibly indirect method of voting for a political party and then somehow transferring money to the government to invest, which doesn't seem particularly controversial. >You are also assuming that taxes actually pay for things, which isn't really how modern monetary systems work (Governments who have their own central banks actually spend money into existence and taxes destroy money). So Governments do have an important issue to play being the monopoly issuer of money. From an economic perspective there's not a huge difference between taxes and creating money in this sense: both involve a transfer of wealth from citizens to government. Wealth (or more abstractly, utility) is the fundamental unit of economics, not money.

TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
Considering the investment and banking industries are built on the claim that finance is more more careful with other people's money than its own, I'm not sure what you're basing that on. Of course you're correct in that it demonstrably isn't. But does that make your point about the politics of finance right, or wrong?