Showing posts with label 1929 Wall Street Crash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1929 Wall Street Crash. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Invisible Hand

I've been following the news on how governments around the world have been taking measures to counter the effects of the meltdown.
It's interesting that the common wisdom that still prevails is that the "invisible hand" is the guiding influence for the capitalist economy.
Interesting to see that the "invisible hand" would need so much help by government interference in fixing economies around the world.
But that's not all. There's the blame game as well. And the blame is clearly being pointed at government interference. If only the government didn't make bad policies, then the meltdown would never have happened. Or so we are being told by the experts.
If that is the case, then why is just about every government in the world taking measures to prevent a total collapse of their economy?
Wouldn't it be wise to leave it to the "invisible hand" to make the corrections?
Obviously we have a paradox of ideology. A paradox on economic policy and thinking.
Either the "invisible hand" should be left to manage the economy or not.
If you believe in the infallibility of the free market, then shouldn't all governments step aside and do nothing? Absolutely nothing. Well that's what happened during the Great Crash. Until the economy bled so badly, that the government was forced to take action.
And still economists believe in the "invisible hand".
Strange and stranger it is. How even more strange that economics considers itself a scientific discipline.

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