When I get round to reading them

There are several interesting books on the shelves in the economics section in the book shop at the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) in Frankfurt.

Mainly dealing with the crisis, and the shape of things to come.

I spend a lot of time there reading snippets from the books concerned. I have read several chapters from Professor Max Otte's 2006 work "Der Crash kommt" in which he foresaw the 2008 crash, for example. If money had permitted I would have bought it (being permanently broke, buying books is a luxury that I cannot afford). There are two later works from Professor Otte that I would like to get round to reading. He has the habit of saying uncomfortable things and being right.

I was drawn back into this world of economic thinking the other day on another LinkedIn poll. A lady from Canada (not the US, interestingly) was pushing an agenda about politics and the market economy - I quote verbatim: " Too many citizens have forgotten that because taxes must be handled by politicians and bureaucrats, we must maintain an political awareness and responsibility. If you don't see taxation as political you may not be all that involved politically. As Friedrich Hayek said: "Liberty and responsibility are inseparable." If you enjoy the liberties of taxation you must take the responsibilities of the political machine".

Apart from reminding me of a debate on one website a few years ago where an advocate of the "market economy" thinking was pushing a theory where in fact some 30-50% of the population would not even be part of the economy as they could not afford to be, this argument struck me as being the usual cliché ridden jargon that you encounter when listening to the advocates of the "market economy".  Citizens who want a lifestyle that is not subject to the whims of the gamblers on the markets should also take political responsibility. The politicians and bureaucrats should also be there trying to ensure that the citizenry can survive the economic turpitude that surrounds us and accordingly we do not all simply disappear from view as we do not exist - economically at least!

When people start quoting Hayek to (or rather "at") me though, I tend to shake my head. Wasn't this where we were in the events that led to the 2008 crash. I have intermittently read Joseph Stiglitz's comments on this and he disagrees totally on Hayek's views. What I have read of Stiglitz, he sounds like he is talking sense. I felt like replying to the lady above "Have you read Stiglitz then?".

But as I have not myself read more than snippets, can I use that argument? There are a couple of books by Stiglitz (translated into German) on the shelf at Hauptbahnhof that I would very much like to read in full. It will in the mean time be interesting to know when Hayek's market economy will provide me with the means to be able to afford to pay for them! But then as I belong to the 30-50% (see above), there is probably no argument as economically I do not exist!