“Markets are wise,” markets “are pregnant with information,” markets “are information personified,” “ignore market signals at your peril.” About what’s been written so far, the bet here is that no one who professes a free market lean would quibble with any of the aphorisms. It’s all basic stuff. Which is why it’s so puzzling that accepted wisdom about markets goes out the window when financial institutions come into the picture. George W. Bush most famously (and intensely foolishly) asserted in 2008 that he believed in free markets, but that they weren’t working properly. Sorry, but markets...…“Markets are wise,” markets “are pregnant with information,” markets “are information personified,” “ignore market signals at your peril.” About what’s been written so far, the bet here is that no one who professes a free market lean would quibble with any of the aphorisms. It’s all basic stuff. Which is why it’s so puzzling that accepted wisdom about markets goes out the window when financial institutions come into the picture. George W. Bush most famously (and intensely foolishly) asserted in 2008 that he believed in free markets, but that they weren’t working properly. Sorry, but markets...WW…

When British writer Viv Groskop was living in Russia in the early 1990s, she was an object of immense curiosity. The Russians were intensely poor, which meant Groskop was seen as someone in possession of what they didn’t have, including “what everybody wanted,” Levi’s jeans. Imagine that. A common clothing item for the typical American was a must-have for the Russian people. Such is life without markets. Absent them, those producing goods and services have little incentive to learn about their potential customers not just to meet their needs, but also to anticipate them. In the former...…When British writer Viv Groskop was living in Russia in the early 1990s, she was an object of immense curiosity. The Russians were intensely poor, which meant Groskop was seen as someone in possession of what they didn’t have, including “what everybody wanted,” Levi’s jeans. Imagine that. A common clothing item for the typical American was a must-have for the Russian people. Such is life without markets. Absent them, those producing goods and services have little incentive to learn about their potential customers not just to meet their needs, but also to anticipate them. In the former...WW…

SubscribeSign In Subscribe Ad-Free.APXStory Streamrecent articlesFires are always burning. Always. Even the naively referenced “great moderation” (1985-2007) was defined by a number of major market corrections and crashes (24% on October 19, 1987 alone), currency debacles, business failures, not to mention wars and terrorist attacks that invariably spook the commercial sector.What rates stress is that the fires are a sign of progress. Capitalism is the personification of messy, at which point it shouldn’t surprise any serious reader that in the most dynamically capitalist country on earth...…SubscribeSign In Subscribe Ad-Free.APXStory Streamrecent articlesFires are always burning. Always. Even the naively referenced “great moderation” (1985-2007) was defined by a number of major market corrections and crashes (24% on October 19, 1987 alone), currency debacles, business failures, not to mention wars and terrorist attacks that invariably spook the commercial sector.What rates stress is that the fires are a sign of progress. Capitalism is the personification of messy, at which point it shouldn’t surprise any serious reader that in the most dynamically capitalist country on earth...WW…