Andrew Wollard
Aug 29, 2017 · 1 min read

Your take on Lenin, derived from actual study, is compelling, as is your view that some liberals and New Leftists should either dip their toes in the theory or stop telling everyone they are such great swimmers. Yet, is this kind of shallow excursionary politics and thinking solely the domain of New Leftists? I have had conversations with individuals ( neoconish, would be orthodox capitalists ) who pronounce themselves lovers of Adam Smith and other political economists, and yet can never see that markets are also distorted when you have firms or employers paying people too little. They always see the reverse distortion, and often cite strange platitudes that have nothing to do with Adam Smith or Ricardo or Malthus or Milton Friedman. Rants about how minimum wages rob society of wealth are often sprinkled with logic culled half-assed from Kuznets or even worse, from a thinker like Arthur Pigou ( things that distort and even contradict their argument ).

)
    Andrew Wollard

    Written by

    Former PhD student ( History, without degree ) and MFA graduate. Disciple of historians and writers everywhere.

    Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
    Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
    Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade