====================== HES POSTING ================== 
 
Anthony Brewer wrote: 
 
> I do disagree with the idea that the market was consciously constructed 
> and imposed (unless that is meant to mean the-market-as-a-concept). The 
> market was consciously opposed and obstructed by feudal institutions but 
> (fortunately) they lost. 
 
It seems to me, Anthony, that this conclusion from your discussion 
requires some elaboration. The critical terms are "not consciously 
constructed and imposed." Surely you would agree that barter is 
"consciously constructed and imposed" by the barterers. If we regard a 
market as a set of two-person exchanges, it seems to me that a strong 
argument could be made that it also is "consciously constructed and 
imposed." And if we define a market society as an aggregation of markets, 
then it also seems reasonable to say that the market society is 
"consciously constructed and imposed." 
 
Human beings consciously construct shopping malls, stock markets, banks 
and central banks. They consciously transform raw metals into coins. They 
consciously endorse promises so that the promises can function as money. 
And so on. 
 
Of course, the fact that barter, markets, or the market society has been 
opposed in various ways seems irrelevant to the issue I am raising. 
 
As I see it, the notion that a market, or market society, is not 
"consciously constructed and imposed" is a means of avoiding the difficult 
problem of tracing the various conscious actions that caused the existing 
"aggregate" or "composite" to come into being and to change. It is a means 
of shifting the study of human interaction from that of choice based on 
inventive foresight to the study of passive behavior. And it is a short 
step from the study of passive behavior to analogies with the study of 
plants and animals. Of course, I do not deny that action has unintended 
effects. However, under a system of private property rights and the right 
to profit from production and exchange, individuals have an incentive to 
discover such unintended effects and make what they regard as appropriate 
adjustments. 
 
Perhaps you have a special meaning of "not consciously constructed and 
imposed," however. If so, could you explain it? 
 
Pat Gunning 
http://www.showtower.com.tw/~gunning/welcome.htm 
http://web.nchulc.edu.tw/~gunning/pat/welcome 
 
============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ 
For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]