Mises vs Cato Facebook fight

[Matt Collins]

Apparently there is a fight going around Facebook yesterday about Cato vs Mises.


My thoughts:

Cato Institute: trying to change the world by educating the political class


Mises Institute: trying to change the world by educating the people


Both are fun



Both fail at their primary objective because their primary objective isa fallacy.



"Educating" doesn't change policy!

 

[Krugminator2]

Of course, education changes policy. FA Hayek and Milton Friedman probably did more than any two people in the 20th Century to steer the world away from socialism. They weren't elected. The ideas Friedman advocated, that countries like China, Chile, Estonia adopted, have created a much better standard of living for hundreds of millions of people. In the US, Keynesianism and New Deal socialism were the dominant thinking until Friedman acted as an intellectual counterweight in the late 70's. The United States in the 80's and 90's were able to at least hold the line against socialism. As bad as things are now, the economic ideas that Friedman pushed are the mainstream thought of hardcore conservatives. For example Republicans stopped minimum wage hikes during the Obama era.

Ron Paul exposed and convinced a lot of people of libertarianism that will carry over for a couple of decades.

 

[jkr]

 

[angelatc]

For example Republicans stopped minimum wage hikes during the Obama era.

But now they're starting to propose a guaranteed minimum income.

 

[Krugminator2]

But now they're starting to propose a guaranteed minimum income.

I think it is a bad idea. But there is a reason many Republicans are okay with it and it supports my point. Both Hayek and Friedman endorsed the idea. I think Friedman was the first person to popularize it in the early 60's in Capitalism and Freedom. The whole idea for the Earned Income Tax that House Republicans and Clinton adopted in the 90's was straight from Friedman.

 

[angelatc]

It's " Earned Income Tax Credit."

And I think it's a terrible idea. I'm ok with any non-refundable tax credits...meaning the lowest tax you pay is 0. But the EITC is a handout.