Today I was attacked by a mob of idiots who:
1: Disagree with subjective value and ‘marginalism.’
2: Adhere to the exploitation theory of interest.
3: Believe that math is the most effective way to explain economic phenomena.
4: Have no problem with indifference curves, or the notion of perfect competition.
5: Believe that the MPK determines the interest rate.
I didn’t know how to respond, so many contradictions.
Run!
I guess that’s my only option. So many people are suddenly ‘interested’ in economics, and yet, they’re not willing to actually investigate economic phenomena. The future seems quite dim.
Things have been a lot dimmer.
Creating the future is not a task for the meek. Chin up.
Ask them what Say’s law is. If they can’t answer, tell them its econ 101 sh*t and they should go read a book before spouting rhetorical BS. This works surprisingly well against people here who are career politicians, who take government and pre-law classes. They think they can be leaders of the world but… well they aren’t exactly educated.
I don’t find it helpful to choose values in an economic debate. You have yours and they have theirs. At best its a digression to try to establish common ethical ground.
So they believe that it is exploitation for banks to lend money out below market interest rates because by inflating the money supply they make cash-holders aka poor people poorer? [;)]
Not when you don’t know the price of thiiings. (calculation problem)
Wiki federal reserve
You should try to have these debates with a laptop present so you can pull up facts and arguments you aren’t familiar with. It helps when debating cold and stops a hesays/shesays scenario over facts.
I don’t know the specifics of the argument, but your best card when they talk about welfare/safety nets is that economic expansion is the only safety net for the poor; that the free market’s continued lowering of prices for basic goods and services has made even our poorest infinitely richer than the historical man. That economic growth and freedom are prerequisites for full employment. Redistributing wealth can only harm producers’ incentives and reward laziness. Remind them that charity and taxation are two different things. Note to them that more private aid goes to Africa than government aid.
So are there any other free market advocates that you know? If not, I would see if I could find one, or someone that is leaning that way. As smart and as educated as anyone is, it is extremely helpful to have a fellow free marketer around, since there are usually multiple points to remember for any issue. I love it when I have my wife around and we get into a discussion with someone. When I get stuck, she just picks up the baton and runs with it.
It does not?
technically time preference does.
And how can someone believe in marginalism and not have at least some affinity for subjective value theory? Or believe in Mpk while thinking that it is exploitative and yet also marginally efficient?