The Libertarian Fantasy of an Ethical Market

Abstract

The book is part political polemic, part loosely logical philosophy, and (very small) part economic analysis. Despite its dramatic prose, many of the author's arguments are unconvincing, annoyingly redundant, very weak in their use of history, and highly selective in their empiricism. Stating what a chapter will do and then concluding at the end it has done so when the evidence in between is either weak or is based on circular reasoning is actually a common practice. Numbers are virtually non-existent despite many statements which suggest some quantitative work has been done.

Citation

Pluta, J.E. (2007), "The Libertarian Fantasy of an Ethical Market", Samuels, W.J., Biddle, J.E. and Emmett, R.B. (Ed.) A Research Annual (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 25 Part 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0743-4154(06)25002-8