The Fog of Economics

The US economy is in a crisis, and the global economy is at risk. There are a number of reasons, including the approaching ‘end of oil’, the unintended effects of globalization and the accumulation of unfunded entitlements as well as unfunded repairs needed for environmental damages. But the most recent crisis arises from the application of ill-conceived doctrines propounded by (some) economists themselves. In particular, conservative ‘free market’ economists, including Allen Greenspan, who was influenced by Ayn Rand and her ‘objectivists’ (Rand 1964; 1967), defend, in Rand’s words, ‘the freedom to take all the actions required … for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of [an individual’s] own life. (Such is the meaning of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.). … It means freedom from the physical compulsion, coercion or interference by other men’ (Rand, 1964, 322).