ABSTRACT
The art of argument begins with the choice of opponents and whether it goes well or ill depends on the quality of those one has chosen to oppose. This book is a response to a number of major arguments for market economies. Those of a number of distinguished figures past and present will be discussed. Adam Smith, J.S. Mill, Jevons, Marshall, Menger and Mises all make appearances. But if one spectre haunts this book perhaps more than any other it is that of Hayek. While this book will criticise both Austrian and neo-classical defences of the market economy, it is the former, and in particular Hayek’s version of it, that in the end I believe forms the more powerful foundation for a normative case for the market economy. Since it is Hayek’s position that provides a powerful case for the market, it also forms a major but not the only object of criticism. Much of this book is a conversation with Hayek.
