al father of the neoconservatism movement (Anonymous bio.html). Samuelson was opposed to the world of unregulated free market capitalism. He felt that if we were to look at the behavior of financial markets, we would find that instead of tending toward equilibrium, prices continue to fluctuate relative to the expectations of buyers and sellers. There are prolonged periods when prices are moving away from any theoretical equilibrium. Even if they eventually show a tendency to return, the equilibrium is not the same as it would have been without the intervening period. Yet the concept of equilibrium endures. It is easy to see why: without it, economics could not say how prices are determined (Soros 45). Samuelson stressed that in the absence of equilibrium, the contention that free markets lead to the optimum allocation of resources loses its justification. The supposedly scientific theory that has been used to validate it turns out to be an axiomatic structure whose conclusions are contained in its assumptions and are not necessarily supported by the empirical evidence. The resemblance to Marxism, which also claimed scientific status for its tenets, was, Samuelson felt, too close for comfort (Soros 45).TOTALITARIAN SOCIETYAn open society is equated to a Market Economy. Private individuals own land and businesses, and operate them for profit, and the market determines what goods are sold at what prices. Wages are set between employees and management, with workers sometimes represented by unions. The Government stimulates output through incentives and usually provides tax benefits to businesses.A closed, sometimes referred to as totalitarian, society is also known as a Command Economy. The state owns the sources of production, which are managed by bureaucrats. Central planners set production quotas, and the Government sets wages; employee unions are non-existent. The Government is run by the Communist party, which rules with a...
