Macro thinkers tend to assume there are 3 basic ways to solve problems: institutions, markets, and organized military conflict (war). No, there are 4. The fourth way is extended chaos, allowing the natural dynamics to play out and create a new default equilibrium condition.
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“Laissez-faire was planned, planning was not” — Polyani.
Markets in practice assume more institutional structure not less. Courts to enforce contracts, rule of law, stable monetary system, Foreign trade being enabled, sovereign bonds not being junky.
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Replying to @vgr
How is this differentiated from a market?
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A big misconceptions of free-market ideologues is that markets are some sort of natural space that expands endlessly as institutional spaces contract. A “natural” market based on informal commerce unlinked to state-organized commerce would be a fraction of the size.
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In that sense, markets are institutions. On the other hand, a hypothetical laissez faire market without support of the law will be your fourth option of chaos.
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I don’t really consider that a market. Too heavily distorted by guns and gangsterism. A mad max protection racket economy run on bits of gold of dubious purity is barely a market.
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you should read David Graeber's Utopia of Rules. First essay is all about this



