Post by RS Davis on Nov 13, 2003 2:42:49 GMT -5
A classic...
- Rick
[glow=red,2,300]Murray Rothbard Wrote:[/glow] The idea is that there are two sharply separated and independent worlds of economics. On the one hand, there is the "micro" sphere, the world of individual prices determined by the forces of supply and demand. Here, the Chicagoans concede, the economy is best left to the unhampered play of the free market. But, they assert, there is also a separate and distinct sphere of "macro" economics, of economic aggregates of government budget and monetary policy, where there is no possibility or even desirability of a free market.
In common with their Keynesian colleagues, the Friedmanites wish to give to the central government absolute control over these macro areas, in order to manipulate the economy for social ends, while maintaining that the micro world can still remain free. In short, Friedmanites as well as Keynesians concede the vital macro sphere to statism as the supposedly necessary framework for the micro-freedom of the free market.
In reality, the macro and micro spheres are integrated and intertwined, as the Austrians have shown. It is impossible to concede the macro sphere to the State while attempting to retain freedom on the micro level. Any sort of tax, and the income tax not least of all, injects systematic robbery and confiscation into the micro sphere of the individual, and has unfortunate and distortive effects on the entire economic system. It is deplorable that the Friedmanites, along with the rest of Anglo-American economics, have never paid attention to the achievement of Ludwig von Mises, founder of the modern Austrian School, in integrating the micro and macro spheres in economic theory as far back as 1912 in his classic The Theory of Money and Credit.4 Milton Friedman has revealed his quintessential pro-income tax and egalitarian position in numerous ways. As in many other spheres, he has functioned not as an opponent of statism and advocate of the free market, but as a technician advising the State on how to be more efficient in going about its evil work. (From the viewpoint of a genuine libertarian, the more inefficient the State’s operations, the better!5) He has opposed tax exemptions and "loopholes" and worked to make the income tax more uniform.
In common with their Keynesian colleagues, the Friedmanites wish to give to the central government absolute control over these macro areas, in order to manipulate the economy for social ends, while maintaining that the micro world can still remain free. In short, Friedmanites as well as Keynesians concede the vital macro sphere to statism as the supposedly necessary framework for the micro-freedom of the free market.
In reality, the macro and micro spheres are integrated and intertwined, as the Austrians have shown. It is impossible to concede the macro sphere to the State while attempting to retain freedom on the micro level. Any sort of tax, and the income tax not least of all, injects systematic robbery and confiscation into the micro sphere of the individual, and has unfortunate and distortive effects on the entire economic system. It is deplorable that the Friedmanites, along with the rest of Anglo-American economics, have never paid attention to the achievement of Ludwig von Mises, founder of the modern Austrian School, in integrating the micro and macro spheres in economic theory as far back as 1912 in his classic The Theory of Money and Credit.4 Milton Friedman has revealed his quintessential pro-income tax and egalitarian position in numerous ways. As in many other spheres, he has functioned not as an opponent of statism and advocate of the free market, but as a technician advising the State on how to be more efficient in going about its evil work. (From the viewpoint of a genuine libertarian, the more inefficient the State’s operations, the better!5) He has opposed tax exemptions and "loopholes" and worked to make the income tax more uniform.
- Rick
