—Youngstown, OH
—Chicago, IL
—Charlotte, NC
—Pittsburgh, PA
—My favorite vacation spot, so far, is Martha’s Vineyard.
—I graduated from The University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Economics and Sociology. I also hold an Associate degree in EET.
—I currently work as a Radiology Engineer. My main duties are to maintain CT and MR medical image scanners. My job can be hazardous if I am not careful!
—I am a big fan of old movies and music. I try to never miss a good concert!
—I just bought my first home and I am enjoying repainting and remodeling it.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteWow, you have lived in 4 different states, how exciting! Which state, do you think, was the most affordable to live in?
Sounds like you could have a potentially dangerous job. I work in health care, as well, although from a different perspective (as a dietitian...not too dangerous, at least not so far!). I will be interested to read your thoughts and gain insights from your perspectives this semester!
FROM MATT D.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting to see your book analysis on Friedman after I did mine on JM Keynes. It looks like we both agree on the point that unregulated free markets are a dangerous thing. I especially like the way your comment was on par with my point about the assumption, “most participants in the free market are ethical, rational, and have perfect information.” Unfortunately I believe we just can't make that assumption after the problems we've seen in the past.
One problem I do have with Keynes is that, in my research, I couldn't really see where he would choose to draw a line on government intervention and how far it should go. Would you suggest a point at which regulation goes too far? Under what circumstances that might happen in your opinion?
Congratulations of a well written report, it was very informative.
Hi, Matt...very informative and thought provoking post.
ReplyDeleteWhen Friedman wrote Capitalism And Freedom and served in politics, the idea that if you were free economically, you were politically free seemed like a slam dunk. However, all we have to do is look to China today. It is a bustling and hugely growing economy...currently #2 and quickly rising to #1. There is a mix of free market and state owned, but free market seems to be gaining more dominance, but it is definitely not politically free. While the Chinese people may not be completely happy with the political state of communism, many feel that there is not political unrest in large part to the fact there is a predominantly capitalist market.
I don't feel that anyone one person or their philosophy is likely the cause of the 2007-2009 Recession...there were widespread issues at play; however, I do feel that deregulation played a major role. The assumption that "most participants in the free market are ethical, rational and have perfect information, is inherently flawed. First, perfect information is an illusion, there are always going to be unforeseen circumstances and differing viewpoints on the information available and secondly there are always going to be people who are blinded by greed and ego. Deregulation and the global economy has allowed mega-galactic corporations that weren't real possibilities just decades ago.
I am a mix of Keynesian and Friedmanian in thinking. Keynes advocacy of a mixed market that was largely made up of the private sector, but with a large government influence has served as well in our history and you have to look no further than our recovery from the Great Depression and World War 2. However, Friedman's ideas that the market will self regulate have certainly worked in the past. But I do not feel that the government should be limited to only arbitrating and reinforcing the rules of the game. All Americans have a stake in the markets and I feel that regulation served us better than the free for all attitude that contributed to our current financial crisis.