Question:
Doesn't capitalism rely on too many assumptions?
2014-06-01 20:53:55 UTC
like the fact that individuals have perfect information regarding all products, and employment opportunities. Or the fact that individuals make rational choices. Or the fact that perfect competition is an inevitable reality, despite the fact that some industries maintain large barriers to entry.

Such a system is not stable. Inevitably it WILL be destroyed. It's simply a matter of WHEN, not IF.

Why do supporters of free-market capitalism think purely in theoretical sense, failing to take into account the many variables?
Twelve answers:
?
2014-06-01 20:56:33 UTC
Yes. It is FAR better for the decisions to be made by government bureaucrats - the kind that decided whatthe staffing and facility needs at the VA medical centers were. No assumptions at all there.
2014-06-01 20:56:02 UTC
Capitalism has been around since the dawn of time. It will always be with us, eternally



Central Planning relies on assumptions. Central Planning always results in failure
?
2014-06-01 20:55:25 UTC
Look at all the money Europe is losing from socialism. And you think Capitalism is the problem?
2014-06-01 21:15:34 UTC
Ya know something,



In the beginning, Republicans accused democrats of wanting to convert America into a socialistic/communistic nation.



Democrats denied it and mocked them.



In the middle, Democrats talked about how other governmental systems such as socialism offer a better way of life.



Again, Republicans accused democrats of wanting to convert America into a socialistic/communistic nation.



Democrats denied it and mocked them.



Now. Democrats openly embrace and wish to convert America into a socialistic/communistic nation. In addition, they demonize Capitalism claiming it's an awful and evil system, even though it is that very system that is the reason we are among the strongest nations on earth.



Republicans again accuse democrats of wanting to embrace communism and socialism and democrats STILL deny it.



Are you kidding me? Either way, if you want a socialistic system, why not move to a nation that suits your ideologies instead of attempting to force everyone to adapt to a new way of doing things.
?
2014-06-01 21:04:52 UTC
Capitalists do not claim individuals have perfect information. We merely point out that an individual has greater knowledge of the market in his immediate vicinity than a government a thousand miles away does.



We do not claim individuals always make rational choices. On the contrary, we point out that they often make very bad choices, and that such individuals comprise the distant and excessively powerful government that proposes to rule us.



We do not claim competition is necessarily perfect in a free market. We merely point out that the most free market is always the most competitive one. The greatest barriers to entry in any given industry are always those erected by government.



Due to its naturally production-encouraging environment, capitalism can more than sustain and stabilize itself. Its destruction is brought about by people like you, who seize power and destroy the generators of wealth simply because you want to rule us.



"Why do supporters of free-market capitalism think purely in theoretical sense, failing to take into account the many variables?"



Why do you insist on telling capitalists what they believe instead of listening to them the last hundred times they explained it to you?
User commited avatar suicide
2014-06-01 21:03:02 UTC
honey, if you're trying to give examples of ASSUMPTIONS, please do not put them in one sentence with FACT..



i.e. ASSUMPTION that individuals make rational choices.





and no, capitalism does NOT work with such assumptions as if they were facts. capitalism lets it up to YOU to decide whether or not you need snake oil, fairy dust and rhino horn or tiger penile bone to increase your sexdrive.



capitalism works with one and only ASSUMPTION.. that the bid vs. demand fluctuations stabilise around a value that's considered acceptable by both seller and customer.



it's not all that arcanee and complicated, son.



definitely, far better than communism that decides for you that you don't need a car but can do with a bike... ONE type of bike that's currently produced, if you're lucky enough to bribe the shopkeeper to save one for YOU.
2014-06-01 21:00:12 UTC
No, capitalism doesn't rely on too many assumptions. Your premises are just wrong. Either you've been reading too much nonsense or are mistakenly thinking that government interventionism is capitalism. And don't mistake that to mean that capitalism doesn't need government -- laws are needed, for example, to ensure just weights and measures. A full discussion of capitalism is well beyond the scope of this forum.
?
2014-06-01 20:57:13 UTC
Capitalism assumes that people are willing to work for a living
Brian B
2014-06-01 20:56:52 UTC
Every system has problems. That's not the problem, it is the unwillingness of the political right to fix any of the problems.
jack f
2014-06-01 20:56:27 UTC
Nope. Capitalism relies on business being free from burdensome government regulation and over taxation. Now that our government is over taxing and over regulating, we no longer have capitalism.
Sienna
2014-06-01 21:15:14 UTC
No.



Capitalism - the private ownership of the means of production - does not rely on any of those assumptions.



Certain schools of economics have posited that the optimum allocation of resources depends on perfect this, perfect that, and perfect the other.



It should be obvious that a theory resting on assumptions of human perfection is useless in the real world. But this is no more a criticism of private property, than it is of any other form of production. It simply fails to come to terms with the real issues. You are correct in pointing that out. You are not correct in thinking that demonstrates and concludes the case against capitalism.



The defence of capitalism does not rely on perfect anything. It relies on the fact that *consensual transactions are ethically and pragmatically better* than violence-based transactions and central planning, which is the only alternative for a civilisation, apart from mass starvation.



The fact that resources are scarce, and that this causes very real problems for man and society, is not caused by "capitalism" or "ideology", it's caused by nature. Capitalism more than anything in the history of the world has relieved these problems, especially for the poorest.



Just because nature imposes scarcity of resources on human action, it is not legitimate to assume therefore that a legal monopoly of aggression and threats - government - can magically make this problem better at no cost, or at optimal cost. It's nonsense - it has no basis in reality or reason. It is no better than a superstition, which is why all attempts at full socialism degenerated in short order into mass starvation.





"Or the fact that individuals make rational choices."



"Rational choice" doesn't mean a choice that you agree with.



All choices are rational in the sense that the person taking action believes there is some *reason* why his action will *cause* an *effect* that he finds more satisfactory; otherwise he wouldn't take any action. For example, even someone trying to improve crop fertility by doing a rain dance, is acting rationally in this sense: he believes the dance will improve fertility. It is not necessary for the belief to be true for us to understand that the action still has its logical economic consequences, for example, the costs of the dance. In this limited sense, all choice is rational, and that limited sense is all that is needed to explain the logical consequences of human action. Human action is *purposive*. This is axiomatic. It is the basis of understanding human action in general, and economic activity in particular.



But in the sense in which you mean "rational", i.e. the action *really does* logically tend to the desired end, then socialism would only be rational if people desired greater poverty, sickness and death. It is in no way an argument against capitalism.



"Such a system is not stable. Inevitably it WILL be destroyed. It's simply a matter of WHEN, not IF."



a) everything in the universe is not stable, is not sustainable. So what? The purpose of human action is not to reach some kind of abstract theoretical perfect stasis. The purpose of human action is to satisfy whatever want the people taking action, are trying to satisfy, by taking that action! It's you who are thinking purely theoretically.

b) even if we conceded that it's a problem that capitalism is not "stable" - (nothing is) - it doesn't mean that any alternative - ESPECIALLY government - would be any more stable. On the contrary, government MUST (not may) waste more resources to achieve the same result in terms of human welfare, so it's less stable, not more.



"Why do supporters of free-market capitalism think purely in theoretical sense, failing to take into account the many variables?"



I must beg you to permit to inform you that everything you are saying is mistaken. You have formed an opinion on the basis of theories that are mistaken - perfect competitition etc.



You've got it back the front. It's the opponents of capitalism who think in slogans and abstractions and aggregates, without ever coming to grips with the real issues.



In a nutshell, all critics of capitalism simply ignore the costs of all the alternatives they propose. But obviously if we ignore the costs, anything will seem beneficial! That's why socialism and government keeps *seeming* attractive, and keeps ending in waste, corruption and war.



If you want to know why everything you have said is illogal and mistaken, read "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises - available free online.



If you don't, the less you exhibit your ignorance the better eh?
?
2014-06-01 21:00:00 UTC
It requires one of the largest assumptions ,,,

That money has a sustainable value and if the governments can perpetuate the myth.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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