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by dundarious 1739 days ago
Again, in that quotation he’s really describing what “actually existing proponents of free market capitalism” are doing in reality — practicing a form of heterodoxy that is common within the community. The article barely spends any time discussing philosophy, so I think it’s irrational to elevate his critique to that level. He’s discussing a biography after all.
1 comments

First of all, he's generalizing from an anecdote of one, which is intellectually lazy and morally reckless, when it results in a negative characterization of a large set of diverse individuals who share the trait of being free market capitalists.

Second, in the quote, he refers to "unregulated free market capitalism" not just "capitalists", and describes what it, as a political and economic doctrine, allows, and his description is unambiguously false.

It's a hit job. It's intellectually dishonest and not fair to the target.

>>He’s discussing a biography after all.

Yes, but in that excerpt, he clearly makes a claim about "unregulated free market capitalism". An individual in his position, writing for a highly reputed publication, has a moral and professional responsibility to not make false claims, even as a side-note in a piece about a different subject from the claim.