Key Terms

Recently my students debated the merits, and demerits, of credit card companies. I was impressed by their level of argumentation. I was also struck by how the debate revolves around certain key terms.

The first term is the notion of being voluntary. For a trade to count as a trade it must be voluntary. The Radical Capitalists restrict this to the use of force or the threat of force. Anything else goes. There are reasons to draw the line here, but there are also reasons to ask whether jettisoning cargo in rough weather is also "voluntary" in the same way that just throwing cargo overboard for fun would be. There are differences in the criminal law that draw distinctions between various levels of intent and hence voluntariness. Does the level of need affect this?

The second term is information. There is nothing illogical about a system of total caveat emptor. Yet, such a system seems to define the very essence of a black market. Rand points this out when Rearden has to get coal on the black market. Genuine markets have some built in protections concerning the accuracy of information. All the Radical Capitalists believe in prohibiting fraud - but just what is fraud? Is it only telling a lie or can fraud be perpetrated through more subtle means?

Bill