It always seemed to me “externality” was just a euphemism to cover up the fact that capitalist enterprise requires massive—not a hand out here or there—state support (and planning) to functional at all. The US is really kind of the odd ball in that we pretend this isn’t the case, dressing up subsidy as defense spending or whatever. In Japan, e.g., they just take your money and give it strait to Toyota without all the pretense. At any rate anyone who opposes central planing and “big government” also opposes capitalism in it’s extant form.
Something to keep in mind is that different people use the word “capitalism” to mean different things. Many libertarians and Objectivists say “capitalism” to mean a free-market economy with dramatically less regulation and taxation than we have today. However, many socialists and anarchists use “capitalism” to mean the sort of economy that we do have today, dominated by big businesses and finance capital. Others use expressions such as “mixed economy” and “crony capitalism” to imply various combinations of competitive free enterprise, regulation, and favoritism for the politically well-connected.
So some readers will take your comment as meaning that free enterprise requires state support; while others will take your comment as meaning that today’s mixed economy requires state support.
always seemed to me “externality” was just a euphemism to cover up the fact that capitalist enterprise requires massive—not a hand out here or there—state support (and planning) to functional at all.
Externalities pre-date the modern capitalist system. For example, in England, well before modern capitalism, restrictions on smelting and similar industries existed to prevent them from polluting surrounding neighborhoods. These concerns are even older than that. The Talmud discusses the legality of farming flowers that make for bad tasting honey when bees use them to make honey, and when one can plant such flowers near the property of someone who owns beehives. Similar issues with water rights also date to the early Middle Ages in some respects. There’s nothing inherent about “capitalism” here, merely economic activity as a whole.
The Talmud discusses the legality of farming flowers that make for bad tasting honey when bees use them to make honey, and when one can plant such flowers near the property of someone who owns beehives.
I know it’s a little off topic, but it’s interesting to point out when you can almost reconstruct the situation that was patched by a specific rule by looking at the rule.
I think people talk more about negative externalities, which are fought through taxes, not encouraged through state support.
Much of what is encouraged through state support has nothing to do with externalities. For example, growing corn has no significant externalities, but it is heavily subsidized.
At any rate anyone who opposes central planing and “big government” also opposes capitalism in it’s extant form.
In other words, if we oppose big government, we oppose the current government, because it’s big? I think that’s generally what people mean when they say they oppose big government, unless they’re arguing with a communist that wants it even bigger.
It always seemed to me “externality” was just a euphemism to cover up the fact that capitalist enterprise requires massive—not a hand out here or there—state support (and planning) to functional at all. The US is really kind of the odd ball in that we pretend this isn’t the case, dressing up subsidy as defense spending or whatever. In Japan, e.g., they just take your money and give it strait to Toyota without all the pretense. At any rate anyone who opposes central planing and “big government” also opposes capitalism in it’s extant form.
Something to keep in mind is that different people use the word “capitalism” to mean different things. Many libertarians and Objectivists say “capitalism” to mean a free-market economy with dramatically less regulation and taxation than we have today. However, many socialists and anarchists use “capitalism” to mean the sort of economy that we do have today, dominated by big businesses and finance capital. Others use expressions such as “mixed economy” and “crony capitalism” to imply various combinations of competitive free enterprise, regulation, and favoritism for the politically well-connected.
So some readers will take your comment as meaning that free enterprise requires state support; while others will take your comment as meaning that today’s mixed economy requires state support.
Externalities pre-date the modern capitalist system. For example, in England, well before modern capitalism, restrictions on smelting and similar industries existed to prevent them from polluting surrounding neighborhoods. These concerns are even older than that. The Talmud discusses the legality of farming flowers that make for bad tasting honey when bees use them to make honey, and when one can plant such flowers near the property of someone who owns beehives. Similar issues with water rights also date to the early Middle Ages in some respects. There’s nothing inherent about “capitalism” here, merely economic activity as a whole.
I know it’s a little off topic, but it’s interesting to point out when you can almost reconstruct the situation that was patched by a specific rule by looking at the rule.
Most libertarians do. When the government is passing out handouts, libertarians are the ones most likely to complain.
I do agree that many Americans are largely in denial about the extent of government control of the economy.
I think people talk more about negative externalities, which are fought through taxes, not encouraged through state support.
Much of what is encouraged through state support has nothing to do with externalities. For example, growing corn has no significant externalities, but it is heavily subsidized.
In other words, if we oppose big government, we oppose the current government, because it’s big? I think that’s generally what people mean when they say they oppose big government, unless they’re arguing with a communist that wants it even bigger.