[jwalsh07]

You really need to read some Hayek.

Any particular reason why?

In The Road to Serfdom he showed that there was an essential difference between regulating the process, in the form of enforcing simple, clear rules of contract, etc., and regulating the outcome, as happens in centrally planned societies. Free market societies flourish & evolve, while centrally planned societies turn totalitarian and crush the peoples' lives. This is because The People keep getting in the way of The Plan.

And where would you place todays America?

[jennyp]

And where would you place todays America?

We have a bit of both types of regulation. But happily, because of people like Hayek, Friedman, Rand, & Reagan, the idea of regulating outcomes is intellecutally discredited, and only survives on inertia & because it's more likely to help well-defined interest groups. (And because of all the tenured leftists still in academia who still believe in economic "intelligent design".)

[grey_whiskers]

In The Road to Serfdom he showed that there was an essential difference between regulating the process, in the form of enforcing simple, clear rules of contract, etc., and regulating the outcome, as happens in centrally planned societies. Free market societies flourish & evolve, while centrally planned societies turn totalitarian and crush the peoples' lives. This is because The People keep getting in the way of The Plan.

And where would you place todays America?

Both of you, try reading Hilaire Belloc's The Servile State!

The book was written before the Russian revolution, and correctly predicts that the collision of capitalism and communism will lead to a state in which some are compelled to work primarily for the good of others--(can you say Social Security?)--and is a fun read anyway, even if it goes slowly.

Cheers!