It's not deliberate. Galbraith really is that ignorant of economics. A reading of any of his books will indicate such.
NEW The Left’s Intelligent Design Problem. Evolution is like Adam Smith's economics; ID is socialism.
"Free markets grew out of primitive barter relationships. They obviously antedate any effort to regulate them. It would be absurd to believe otherwise."
So what. Adam Smith's invisible hand applies to more than just "primitive barter relationships." Once the economy reaches a certain size (and we're about six orders of magnitude past that now), government regulation becomes necessary.
No, not to set prices or anything like that. Just establishing a common currency requires intelligent government intervention. So does contract enforcement. Your partner renigs on his contract, and what do you do? That's right: you sue him. Can you do that without government involvement? (Yes, I realize that frivolous lawsuits are out of control, but that does not mean that *all* lawsuits are frivolous.)
And what about equities markets? Do you suppose for a minute that they don't need any intelligent government regulation?
The bottom line is that drawing a comparison between evolution and free-market economics is fundamentally misleading if the purpose is to show that ID is not needed in economics.