Nobel economics winner says market forces flawed

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

From the "Gee, you think?" dept:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1538104320071015?sp=true

Nobel economics winner says market forces flawed
Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:47pm EDT
By Jon Hurdle

PRINCETON, New Jersey (Reuters) - Societies should not rely on market forces to protect the environment or provide quality health care for all citizens, a winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for economics said on Monday.

Professor Eric Maskin, one of three American economists to receive the award, said that he "to some extent" takes issue with free-market orthodoxy championed by U.S President George W. Bush and some other western leaders.

"The market doesn't work very well when it comes to public goods," said Maskin, a slight, soft-spoken 57-year-old who lives in a house once occupied by Albert Einstein. (...)

In its statement with the award, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the market's efficiency may be undermined because consumers are not perfectly informed, competition is not completely free, and "privately desirable production and consumption may generate social costs and benefits." (more at link)

[Hydra]

1. Dur!

Free market orthodoxy is a sacred cow that we need to slaughter for a grand bbq.

[hatrack]

2. File under D for "Duh!"

:silly:

[AX10]

3. As Thom Hartman said: "There is no such thing as free markets".

The goverment sets the foundation for the market to exist, they also can influence the design of the house on that foundation. The market is designed to favor those with influence over the gatekeepers.

[DaveJ]

5. You mean borrowing doesn't make the economy free?

A two class system:

1) people with money who decide where it goes, who have to do absolutely nothing to keep it.
2) people without money who actually work, with little or no hope of becoming anything else.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

4. Well, at least someone said it: "the market isn't a 'free' market". nt

[Jim__]

6. I'm glad to hear that a nobel laureate in economics said this.

It seems like most economists either ignore it or are unaware of it.

[unpossibles]

7. I agree

it does give some credence to the idea. Then again, the right is convinced that the Nobel people are liberals, but that goes along with the idea that they seem to hate education and intelligence beyond how much money it can make you.

[malaise]

8. K & R

The robber barons will soon be sent to oblivion to rest for a few decades.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. There is nothing nicer than seeing small kittens opening their

eyes...

:-)

[Sufficient Voice]

10. This is beautiful.

The world really really needs this wakeup call in economic theory.