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Libertarians can't win for the simple reason that free markets tend towards oligopolies without a system to break them up and because "free markets" suspiciousl

Libertarians can't win for the simple reason that free markets tend towards oligopolies without a system to break them up and because "free markets" suspiciously never account for externalities.

Houshalter 12y ago
Libertarianism is a sliding scale. Many libertarians are ok with some government regulation and things like anti-monopoly laws. Others believe they aren't necessary and that most monopolies are created because government regulation rather than in spite of it.
- Daishiman 12y ago
  I have never, heard any libertarian publication in the internet advocate for anti-monopoly laws. And the second position is fantasy, because every single economic theory (including those by Von Mises, Friedman and other "heroes" of libertarians) can describe the existence of natural monopolies quite well. Doesn't take a genius to know that these extremist positions are the result of ignorance in the way money and power flow through society. Unfortunately, it's the sort of ignorance that reaches into the "not even wrong" territory.
  - Houshalter 12y ago
    There's no need to advocate for anti-monopoly laws because they already exist. They just don't spend time advocating against them. Natural monopolies are a different issue (anti-trust laws can't affect a true natural monopoly because it's by definition impossible to break up.) Some libertarians dispute that they are an issue at all, more on that position here: https://mises.org/daily/5266/ https://mises.org/daily/5266/ Others believe the government should handle things like public utilities, just nothing else. Accusing others of ignorance is never helpful.
TeMPOraL 12y ago
Libertarians can't win for the simple reason they don't understand externalities and coordination problems, i.e. when everyone follows "free market" and what is good for them personally, the whole society fucks itself over very hard, because they can't escape tragedies of commons. That's one of the reasons I think that those labels are idiotic and a form of secular religions - how about looking at how things actually work (and have worked out; we have plenty of past history to look at), instead of calling oneself a (e.g.) libertarian and saying "yay free market!" hoping that this particular idea is the silver bullet.

Libertarians can't win for the simple reason that free markets tend towards oligopolies without a system to break them up and because "free markets" suspiciously never account for externalities.

Houshalter 12y ago

Libertarianism is a sliding scale. Many libertarians are ok with some government regulation and things like anti-monopoly laws. Others believe they aren't necessary and that most monopolies are created because government regulation rather than in spite of it.

Daishiman 12y ago
I have never, heard any libertarian publication in the internet advocate for anti-monopoly laws. And the second position is fantasy, because every single economic theory (including those by Von Mises, Friedman and other "heroes" of libertarians) can describe the existence of natural monopolies quite well. Doesn't take a genius to know that these extremist positions are the result of ignorance in the way money and power flow through society. Unfortunately, it's the sort of ignorance that reaches into the "not even wrong" territory.
- Houshalter 12y ago
  There's no need to advocate for anti-monopoly laws because they already exist. They just don't spend time advocating against them. Natural monopolies are a different issue (anti-trust laws can't affect a true natural monopoly because it's by definition impossible to break up.) Some libertarians dispute that they are an issue at all, more on that position here: https://mises.org/daily/5266/ https://mises.org/daily/5266/ Others believe the government should handle things like public utilities, just nothing else. Accusing others of ignorance is never helpful.

TeMPOraL 12y ago

Libertarians can't win for the simple reason they don't understand externalities and coordination problems, i.e. when everyone follows "free market" and what is good for them personally, the whole society fucks itself over very hard, because they can't escape tragedies of commons. That's one of the reasons I think that those labels are idiotic and a form of secular religions - how about looking at how things actually work (and have worked out; we have plenty of past history to look at), instead of calling oneself a (e.g.) libertarian and saying "yay free market!" hoping that this particular idea is the silver bullet.