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Friday, October 31, 2008

What Does Supporting the Free Market Mean?

Dean Baker is far from a libertarian, but he often knows the score. Here's what he wrote in "Beat the Press" yesterday:

NYT readers no doubt asked this question when they saw that Charlie McCreevy, the European internal market commissioner, was identified as "a supporter of free-market economics." What does this mean? Did Mr. McCreevy oppose the bank bailouts? Is he opposed to copyright and patent protection? Or, did the NYT just mean to tell us that, like almost everyone else, he is not a supporter of Soviet-style central planning?

It would be useful if reporters could get beyond cliches and try to ensure that their characterizations of individuals actually provide information to readers.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sheldon,

I don't know if you noticed, but there were two posters under yours at "Beat the Press". One of them asked you, "Would that include land ownership?". I hope you will respond to them (though I wonder if they'll notice a new comment now).

Richard G.

Sheldon Richman said...

Thanks, Richard. I posted a comment.