Anarchy as an Organizing Principle
The recent wave of scandals involving accounting fraud marks the end of an era A tectonic ideological shift from laissez-faire and self-regulation to state intervention and regulation could result from disillusionment and disenchantment with American capitalism. This would mark the reversal of a trend that can be traced to Reagan in the United States and Thatcher in Britain. Additionally, it would seriously question some fundamental—and much older—tenets of free-market ideology
Markets are thought of as self-assembling, self-organizing exchanges of goods, information, and services. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" is the culmination of all the mechanisms whose interaction results in the most efficient distribution of economic resources. The randomness and lack of self-awareness of the market are precisely its greatest advantages over central planning. Market participants conduct their egocentric business while attempting to maximize their utility, blind to the interests and actions of everyone but those with whom they directly interact. Out of the commotion and confusion, a structure of unmatched order and efficiency appears. Man is unable to purposefully produce better results. Therefore, any interference or intervention is considered to be harmful to the economy's ability to function properly
From this idealized worldview, it is only a short leap to the Physiocrats, Adam Smith's forebears, who advanced the doctrine of "laissez faire, laissez passer" — the hands-off battle cry. Their religion was one of nature. They roared that the market, as a collection of people, was unquestionably entitled to the same rights and liberties as every person. In his influential and perfectly timed "Principles of Political Economy," written in 1848, John Stuart Mill argued against the role of the state in the economy.
This flawed theory came back with a vengeance in the last two decades of the previous century, unfazed by mounting evidence of market failures, such as the inability to provide affordable and plentiful public goods. Privatization, deregulation, and self-regulation developed into trendy buzzwords that were spread by both commercial banks and multilateral lenders as parts of a global consensus
Self-regulation was based on the idea of long-term self-preservation when it came to the professions, such as accountants, stock brokers, lawyers, bankers, insurers, and so on. By adhering to the guidelines of a level playing field, morally responsible individuals can maximize their utility in the long run. taking place
Sadly, it appeared that avarice, narcissism, and an immature inability to delay gratification had tainted this noble tendency. Self-regulation's spectacular failure to overcome human nature gave rise to the most invasive statal strategies ever created. Government involvement in the details of accounting, stock trading, and banking has increased significantly over the past two years in both the UK and the USA
However, there was more to the ethos and myth of "order out of chaos"—which had proponents in the exact sciences as well—than that. The very culture of commerce itself underwent a profound transformation. It is not surprising that the Internet, a disorderly network with an anarchic operating system, took off. In other words, higher prices were meant to ensure a continuous service. Failure followed, as was to be expected, from British railroad operators to Californian electric utilities
Unavoidably, a backlash resulted from the simultaneous demise of these urban legends, including the liberating power of the Internet, self-regulating markets, and the unrestrained benefits of privatization
In the decades following the Second World War, the state has grown to monstrous proportions. It is about to expand and eat up the few areas that have so far remained unaffected. These are bad news, to put it mildly. But by obstructing the work of that intangible regulator, the market, we libertarians—supporters of both individual freedom and individual responsibility—have brought it upon ourselves
