Belief in a philosophy or idea to the exclusion of anything else is dangerous. Marx was an excellent critic of the worst excesses of British 19th Century capitalism however, his ideas of how to run a society, how to organize an economy were patently wrong, and led to some of the worst crimes of the 20th Century. He should have remained an observational writer and not talked about solutions.
He had a big idea, sadly it was a bad idea.
So now as I read the papers, as the British and Americans belief in the efficiency in the free market continues, news papers like the Economist, very fine journalists seem to blindly talk about leaving things to the market, less legislation. It is mind numbing sometimes... questions yourselves i want to say...you are not thinking you are just quoting the orthodoxy.
So why do I say this.
The country i live in has done remarkably well out globalisation, the market is a supremely efficient mechanism, yet all countries try to manipulate it and few of them are as willing as the UK to let well run, wealth producing companies disappear.
Scottish and Newcastle, a company that wanted to stay independent a successful company, yet no the needs of shareholder were paramount. The problem with the market the problem with finance in the UK is that it is always run by financial brains who chase a short-term return when this is often not in the nations interest.
They hang to this over simple idea, leave it to the market, yet they don't wonder why car companies are in Germany and they are in danger of impoverishing their children, they are denying wealth creation from the UK. Foreign companies often protected, sometimes funded by governments.. but we have a quick return today, resources can always be reallocated.. can it are you sure....
Companies must be bought and sold, the market is the best mechanism of distributing goods and services, yet should it be so easy to buy British companies? I do wonder.
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