Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by nobodyandproud 53 days ago
I’ll be sure to bring a posse of gunmen to my next negotiation.

Every well functioning market has ground rules. We call that laws.

And every well-functioning market has enforcer of said ground rules. We call that government.

Believing that the market is unregulated is faith-driven nonsense, which flies in the face of evidence.
1 comments
WalterBright 53 days ago
A free market requires laws that protect property rights and prevent people from using force and fraud against others.

"Your signature on the contract or your brains" is not a free market transaction.

link
nobodyandproud 53 days ago
Why does it require it? To what aim does this serve the market?

A check against fraud and protection of property rights can be achieved through force and violence and the threat of violence, so that answer seems inadequate.

Likewise, supply and demand is definitely affected by government policies. The supply of labor, for example, by allowing or disallowing near shore or off-shore work with steep penalties. Or allowing/disallowing gambling.

So that also flies in the face of evidence.

It’s a self-serving, faith-based belief that that desires to put “market forces” beyond the reach of voters. It’s also a colossal delusion.

link
WalterBright 53 days ago
> Why does it require it?

The idea is that transactions then become mutually beneficial.

You cannot vote away the Law of Supply and Demand any more than you can legislate pi=3.00

link
nobodyandproud 52 days ago
Who said anything about “voting away”?

It’s a strange blindspot you have where you understand there is clearly some government role to have a free market, yet can’t see that this also means the government can influence—not eliminate, you’re the one making this claim not me—supply and demand.

The government clearly has levers to influence supply, but I’m failing to make it clear it seems.

As for making transactions beneficial between two parties: Which two parties?

Why does this belief not extend to workers and businesses?

Why doesn’t the lobbying by firms to support H1Bs and off-shore prove that government policies clearly impacts labor supply?

link