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> People can’t get all the information they need to make good individual decisions in a complex environment. The issue is that groups (at any size, and worse w
by taolegal 4y ago
> People can’t get all the information they need to make good individual decisions in a complex environment.
The issue is that groups (at any size, and worse when turned into hard-to-change institutions) have their own unique disadvantages even beyond the flaws & shortcomings of the individuals that make up the group.
And it's precisely that inaccessible, dispersed knowledge that's crucial to operating an economy. Complexity if anything overwhelms government. They're usually far too slow & old to even begin to effectively regulate complex aspects of society.
- bumby 4y agoYour first paragraph is true irrespectively so I don’t know how it’s a case for or against either side. “People are people” isn’t adding much. However, systems can be put in place to mitigate (or amplify, depending on their implementation) these shortcomings. I’d argue bad institutions make things worse, while good institutions make things better. FWIW, I don't consider institutions to be limited to government; they can be groups like corporations as well. >inaccessible, dispersed knowledge I think the distinction is I don’t consider this a good thing. Opaque information hinders an economy; I don’t know how you can claim the opposite. I’d also argue inaccessible information is often at odds with dispersion of knowledge. For example, written knowledge wasn't dispersed until it became more accessible through the moveable type printing press. Making information inaccessible is just a way of hoarding power; that's generally not good for an economy (with some notable exceptions).