> Or perhaps many of today's woes are caused by a > belief in the > possibility of a pure free market and the myth of > perfect competition. I would like to hear one example of someone who actually believes in pure free markets or perfect comp. I have NEVER come across a proponent of deregulation- privatization who sees perfect comp as anything but a thought experiment. Mises and Hayek were quite explicit about the imperfect nature of the market process. Even Bob Lucas freely admits that there is no such thing as hyper-neutral money and perfect market clearing. Every one knows that the models in question are just models, and not exact descriptions of reality. Benevolent omniscient social planners are also generally seen as imaginary. Aside from a few of the more interesting (i.e. mental) socialists, who believed in anti-lions and seas of lemonade, proponents of intervention/ socialization have generally not made wild or absurd claims regarding the merits of government. The real problem is that that some actually believe in perfect versions of their preferred systems, but with those who avoid constructive dialog with false accusations of utopianism. Joe Stiglitz is particularly good at this. Doug Mackenzie