On the Carpe Diem blog, Mark Perry contrasts opposing views on Uber to illustrate different views on the market and government.
Then Perry writes:
Progressives seem to trust the heavy hand of government force more than they trust the invisible hand of market, they have more faith in regulated monopolies/cartels (e.g. Big Taxi, public schools) than market competition (Uber, charter schools), and in general favor government solutions and government force over market solutions and voluntary exchange. Or put differently, progressives don’t believe in the magic or miracle of the marketplace…
Markets don’t work because of magic or miracles.
Markets work because of communication, prices, competition and trial-and-error.
What amazes me is how few people see that.
As a consumer, choosing between competing products beats trying to change the rules so that the one provider does it the way you like.
Sometimes you can’t even anticipate how a business can change its product to suit you and you simply have to stumble upon the value through trial-and-error.
Our Dinner Table 