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> about how free markets work. After all, we live in a free market society. Teaching about free markets is like teaching about spherical cows. But this isn't r

by nsajko 4y ago

> about how free markets work. After all, we live in a free market society. Teaching about free markets is like teaching about spherical cows. But this isn't really on-topic.

WalterBright 4y ago
> Teaching about free markets is like teaching about spherical cows. Thanks for illustrating my point that people in American classrooms should be taught about it.
- andybak 4y ago
  The post you're replying to seemed reasonable to me. A "free market" is a simplified model used to model messy reality. What exactly are you mocking?
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    Newtonian Mechanics is also a simplified model. Does that mean it is as useless as spherical cows? More to the point, in my experience the people who say free markets are some crazy extremist unworkable ideology tend to have very strange ideas about what it is. For a typical example, they'll claim a free market requires "perfect information", which is completely false. (Imperfect information is called "risk" and is factored into prices.)
    - andybak 4y ago
      > Does that mean it is as useless as spherical cows? Spherical cows aren't useless though. Unless of course you mistake the map for the territory. As with everything in economics one side thinks the other is dangerously simplifying whilst they themselves are fully aware of the nuance.
      - WalterBright 4y ago
        The one thing we know about economics, because of plenty of history, is that free markets work far better than any other system that's been tried. It's a consistent facet of prosperous economies.
        andybak 4y ago
        No. We know mixed economies work best. We just don't agree on the right mix.
        WalterBright 4y ago
        Do we know that? What we do know is the more free market an economy, the more prosperous it is.
        andybak 4y ago
        We're now just stating contradictory "facts" at each other. I don't have the time, energy or expertise to marshal the evidence but I don't know anyone with all their marbles that thinks that an utterly unbounded free market with no restraints would be a good thing. I don't think you believe that either.
mhh__ 4y ago
The free part is potentially dubious even if purely for reasons of pedagogically efficiency but being able to distinguish a genuine structural issue (or at least be less wrong) from merely supply&demand is something a lot of people lack.

by nsajko 4y ago

> about how free markets work. After all, we live in a free market society. Teaching about free markets is like teaching about spherical cows. But this isn't really on-topic.

WalterBright 4y ago

> Teaching about free markets is like teaching about spherical cows. Thanks for illustrating my point that people in American classrooms should be taught about it.

andybak 4y ago
The post you're replying to seemed reasonable to me. A "free market" is a simplified model used to model messy reality. What exactly are you mocking?
- WalterBright 4y ago
  Newtonian Mechanics is also a simplified model. Does that mean it is as useless as spherical cows? More to the point, in my experience the people who say free markets are some crazy extremist unworkable ideology tend to have very strange ideas about what it is. For a typical example, they'll claim a free market requires "perfect information", which is completely false. (Imperfect information is called "risk" and is factored into prices.)
  - andybak 4y ago
    > Does that mean it is as useless as spherical cows? Spherical cows aren't useless though. Unless of course you mistake the map for the territory. As with everything in economics one side thinks the other is dangerously simplifying whilst they themselves are fully aware of the nuance.
    - WalterBright 4y ago
      The one thing we know about economics, because of plenty of history, is that free markets work far better than any other system that's been tried. It's a consistent facet of prosperous economies.
      - andybak 4y ago
        No. We know mixed economies work best. We just don't agree on the right mix.
        WalterBright 4y ago
        Do we know that? What we do know is the more free market an economy, the more prosperous it is.
        andybak 4y ago
        We're now just stating contradictory "facts" at each other. I don't have the time, energy or expertise to marshal the evidence but I don't know anyone with all their marbles that thinks that an utterly unbounded free market with no restraints would be a good thing. I don't think you believe that either.

mhh__ 4y ago

The free part is potentially dubious even if purely for reasons of pedagogically efficiency but being able to distinguish a genuine structural issue (or at least be less wrong) from merely supply&demand is something a lot of people lack.