Comments on: Tony Blair’s Answer

By: The Only Solipsist

The Only Solipsist — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:11:49 +0000

Great Question from Michael, unfortunately Mr Blair (in my opinion) still dodged the bullet with his answer. What does he mean by better ideas? Roman Catholic ideas or ideas that can be tested and falsified? Mr Blair created the time bomb abomination of ‘Faith Schools’ in the UK when Prime Minister and converted to Catholisism shortly after leaving Downing St. He pushed the UK into the Iraq war because he ‘believed’ there were WMDs despite no evidence. This is a man who doesn’t know the meaning of confirmation bias. But then again, when it comes to Mr Blair, nor do I.

By: Nathan Phillips

Nathan Phillips — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:17:25 +0000

Western Culture as I know it is European. The British spread it more than any other group. The British system was based in large part on Roman and previous Germanic law and infrastructure. The ideas that influenced our great thinkers were inspired by the ancient Greeks and filtered through a Christian perspective. I don’t think that the Judeao-Christian aspect of our culture was the dominant force of our advancement.

By: Nathan Phillips

Nathan Phillips — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:12:58 +0000

The big three were in the process of bankruptcy. Without intervention, those who didn’t do the manual work of the autiomotive industry were going to leave the workders in the dust as they lived off of their sizeable savings. They got that big from capitalism. A free market at this point allows corporations to move businesses overseas to reduce costs. If one can do it, it moves the bar and pushes others to do it. It’s easy to see how this could be the result of under regulation.

By: Nathan Phillips

Nathan Phillips — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:01:45 +0000

Realize that Dr. Shermer sees capitalism and democracy as the natural, preferred and rational order of things. There is also an underlying notion that increased democracy will lead to more skepticism and science. If I remember correctly, the first democracy in the New World was in the Carribean and I haven’t seen any space programs coming out of that region.

By: Tuffgong

Tuffgong — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:25:32 +0000

He’s not praising anyone you dolt.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:54:19 +0000

Don’t forget government regulations to reduce competition…

And don’t buy for a minute that they could do whatever they wanted without oversight.

According to Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff there are over 115 regulatory agencies for financial services. If 115 regulatory agencies is not enough, then how much is enough?

The problem was 1) government encouraged the meltdown 2) there were too many regulatory agencies 3) regulatory capture (regulators put corporations interest ahead of public interest). Free market people have been talking about this issue for over 100 years.

By: Michael R Roberts

Michael R Roberts — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:24:14 +0000

This was fun to read, but somehow I just don`t agree with Tony on everything.

By: tmac57

tmac57 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:33:19 +0000

Patrick, those benefits are not always in the form of direct transfers of money from ‘us’ to ‘them’.A great deal (if not most) of what corporations and other interested parties want are changes in laws to their benefit. For example: financial institutions wanting the unfettered ability to buy and sell CDOs without transparency.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:38:13 +0000

PS, the Big 3 clearly used government power to keep themselves afloat. Democrats were only so happy to go along because with out the bailout their biggest donors – the Autoworkers Union – would have been toast. The US government proceeded to violate 200 years of bankruptcy law to keep the car makers and unions solvent. That isn’t the free market in action, that is clearly government coercion.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:35:51 +0000

How do you think government gives out the benefits to corporations? Donations from taxpayers…come on now :P