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Market Society and its Enemies

Economists are known as a better engineer, a technician, who have capacity of gazing miniscule atoms and sub-atoms of demand and growth, its slumpness and retardness. Be it French Physiocrats, or the master thinkers of classical age, like Adam Smith, Turgot, Recardo, Bentham, Saint Simon, or Keynes, they forsaw a new spirit is in making in form of political economy. Liberalism was the birth-child of the historical necessity for some, however a master plan for others. Laissez faire in its spirit relied upon the freedom of exchange in eighteen century and freedom of competition in 19th century of Europe. However, 20th century under the calibrated brush of ordo-liberals and anarcho-liberals, neo-liberal paradigm came into being. It was Nazism and Marxism which were made a face, an imagined adversary, to fight against that gave them stimulation to construct a "market society" whereas no competition or exchange will be free enough without selective intervention. Germany became the first experimenting place for these thinkers, including Walter Eucken, Ludwig Von Mises, Ropke, Rustow, Hayek, Walter Lipman, Armack and many more. They selectively exposed the dangers of Keynesian economics prevalent in Britain in order to promote maximum de-regulation. However, this neo-liberal paradigm never meant to revive laissez faire in its form and spirit what the master thinkers, like Adam Smith, imagined. It was more than that; they were arguing to create a "society of scattered enterprises" which will prevail over the other modes of lives and production. It was meant to create a "market society", to refer the term coined by Karl Polanayi (The Great Transformation). And same principles worked each time the neo-liberal economy saw its lowest point of growth. Keynesian interventionism was always taken as a tool to revive the economy. You may see various examples which support this claim. Like the great depression of 1920-30, or the financial crisis of 2008. In recent time when economy is not keeping a pace. Investment is going downward it is Keynes which is again in demand. What lesson has been learnt from the history? To commit the same mistake in a bigger form. Now, economy needs a bit of pumping for what aim? To create a jobless growth or to work for human development? Only time is a reliable witness to tell the story of human's hopes and their naivety!

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