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Originally Posted by ebacon
The other definition of capitalism is a more radical one. When the people that are being honest in discussion are talking about this more radical capitalism they modify it with adjectives such as laissez-faire capitalism or free market capitalism. It is also called anarcho-capitalism, Randism, and Objectivism.
The theory of Laissez-faire capitalism removes the regulation and hence governmentally enforced moral code that binds us. It removes consumer protections and pits us dog-eat-dog against each other. Easy to see examples of laissez-faire are deregulated campaign finance, deregulated financial markets such as hedge funds, deregulated banking structures, deregulated credit card interest rates, and the like.
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What justification is there for government enforced moral code? I'm not certain that the social contract is sufficient to overide the sanctity of individual choice without sufficient harm being caused to that individual. Can't government always justify its actions by such appeals to a moral code and who or what determines what moral code ought be enforced?
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Other major topics:
Austrian School/Hayek
Keynes
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Particularly, Keynes' General Theory and Hayek's extensive critique of Keynes' General Theory. Galbraith, Thurow, Arrow, Schelling, Friedman, Samuelson, and even early Krugman articles and books are all good background material in economics.