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Do you believe in market failure?

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Lagrange multiplier posted on Sun, Aug 1 2010 3:18 PM

Do you believe in market failure?

I do.

"I'm not a fan of Murray Rothbard." -- David D. Friedman

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nirgrahamUK:
One might ask how the superior state of affairs that yet remains within the realms of possibility can be called a 'failure' from the standpoint of a pragmatic analysis. its a semantic issue.

It fails according to what could have been. The possibility is not unrealizable.

I would call it "medical failure," perhaps, when a child dies from an illness that could have been treated by penicillin. There is no utopian ideal being praised here; just a possible alternative.

"I'm not a fan of Murray Rothbard." -- David D. Friedman

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z1235 replied on Sun, Aug 1 2010 3:34 PM

Neoclassical:
Do you believe in market failure?

Yes. It utterly fails in providing me whatever I want whenever I want it, every single day. 

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Neoclassical, you honestly Mises scholars never heard about a Prisonner Dilemma?

PD scenarios require coordination to get solved, if they occur in the market it is due to mismanagement, if it is profitable to manage better eventually the market will.

Now give me a market failure example that's not A. Human error/buyer's remorse and B. Lack of coordination.

The older I get, the less I know.
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>>It fails according to what could have been. 

what could have been given the constraints of reality or what could have been given a different 'superior' institution ? or what could have been given a purely mental utopian dream?

Where there is no property there is no justice; a proposition as certain as any demonstration in Euclid

Fools! not to see that what they madly desire would be a calamity to them as no hands but their own could bring

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What do you mean, "human error," Consultant?

I am assuming that individual decision-making is rational.

"I'm not a fan of Murray Rothbard." -- David D. Friedman

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nirgrahamUK:
what could have been given the constraints of reality or what could have been given a different 'superior' institution ? or what could have been given a purely mental utopian dream?
A different distribution of property rights.

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as though 'by magic' or by undermining property rights by coercive redistribution ?

Where there is no property there is no justice; a proposition as certain as any demonstration in Euclid

Fools! not to see that what they madly desire would be a calamity to them as no hands but their own could bring

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Either I guess. In the PD its literally impossible by premise to change property rights, but if they could be changed a better solution could be reached.

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Neoclassical:

Seriously?

Uh, yeah. What does it mean?

If I wrote it more than a few weeks ago, I probably hate it by now.

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Coase replied on Sun, Aug 1 2010 4:13 PM

I would consider market failure the failure of a free market to price goods efficiently. Market failure is when a good is priced in such a manner that it is overproduced or underproduced and therefore social utility is not being maximized.

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Neoclassical:

See! This sort of intellectual charlatanry is what made me so distrustful of Austrian economics, in general. Your ideology trumps your economics qua science.

Brother, you are on a forum of novices. We aren't good representatives of Austrian School economics.

If I wrote it more than a few weeks ago, I probably hate it by now.

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I. Ryan, watch the David Friedman link I provided to learn about market failure from a fun and libertarian perspective.

"I'm not a fan of Murray Rothbard." -- David D. Friedman

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Neoclassical:

I. Ryan, watch the David Friedman link I provided to learn about market failure from a fun and libertarian perspective.

I am about 10 minutes into it, thanks for posting it.

If I wrote it more than a few weeks ago, I probably hate it by now.

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With human error I mean buyer remorse. Regret. This is not market failure, this is life.

The older I get, the less I know.
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Cool. Hope you enjoy it.

"I'm not a fan of Murray Rothbard." -- David D. Friedman

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