O-Land News Junkie Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Hayek was not alone among free-marketers in doubting the supremacy of consumers as a whole. Ayn Rand took the Nietzschean concept to an extreme, and suggested that the large producers were supreme, deciding to bring economic benefits to the masses through their capital and superior intellect. Hank Reardon labors long hours, overcoming gigantic obstacles to produce his superior product Rearden Metal, while consumers merely accept his product or not, playing no active part in the innovation. Rand’s approach has a certain amount of validity, especially for a product such as Rearden Metal that is primarily used by businesses that are themselves able to judge its superior quality. Taggart Transcontinental, in using it for the John Galt Line, is able to carry out whatever tests are necessary and determine its superiority. [....] Nevertheless for consumer products, in which the fog of ignorance stretches in both directions - manufacturers don’t know what consumers want and consumers don’t know objectively which products are superior - the Rand paradigm leaves something to be desired. — Martin Hutchinson, Free News Pos #Categories: Atlas Shrugged, Capitalism View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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