Damning indictment of that PX report
Saturday, March 20, 2010 Mark Littlewood, director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, has blogged about the Policy Exchange report HERE. More unhappy reading for the policy wonks at PX.
Here's a taste:
It seems that the authors suffer from two problems identified by Hayek. The first is the “fatal conceit”. They believe they have calculated the exactly correct tax to internalise all social costs – an additional 5%. This is remarkable. If a government has the information to do this, then central planning in the Soviet Union would have been effective. And maybe we should do this for all products: 4.3% tax for chips, 11.45% for cream cakes, a 2.657% subsidy for footballs (because of the “social” benefit of exercise). Why pick on cigarettes?
Secondly, as Hayek identified, once the state provides and regulates certain things (eg the provision of health or labour market contracts) the lovers of state control see external costs and benefits all over the place. There is then literally no limit on the government intervention that can address those costs and benefits and the inevitable result is serfdom.
As put-downs go ("The most exasperating element of the document is its reliance on the theory of Marxist false consciousness") it's pretty damning, even more so when it comes from the head of a free market think tank with a long and respected history.
Unlike some I could mention.
Reader Comments (3)
Excellent !
And Friedrich Hayek should be COMPULSORY reading for all the 'wonks' at Central Office, too - at least for those still capable of opening a book (and tearing themselves away from their 'Sex and The City' DVD collection).
Beginning with 'The Road To Serfdom'. This alone will serve to demonstrate just how 'conservative' most Conservative governments have been since the War, and how far they've allowed themselves to become contaminated with all that ideological collectivist nonsense that should have been dumped in 1945.
In fact, Hayek should be read by EVERYONE interested in Freedom................
Well it's rule by committee .
This is the problem .
I don't vote for committee's.
I think politicians are sitting back and letting groups like this bunch of Zelots make their decisions for them.
Rule by committee = Communism.
So why don't all all polital parties just come clean and form the communist party of great britain.
Because that is how they are behaving.
This is the equivalent of Sir Alex Ferguson telling Rafael Benetiz he is a crap manager.
As Simon rightly says "reliance on the theory of Marxist false consciousness" in this context is the equivalent of having two strikers at 5'8" with lead in their boots and playing the long ball game.
Its been Cheltenham week and I would guess at the Policy Exchange the steward's enquiry will be long, deep and comprehensive.
It is a sporting weekend after all.