The Importance of Understanding Markets

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I want to defend regulation. I think you can be in favor of the invisible hand and still favor some kinds of regulation. You're going to have impacts that aren't going to be what you intended, but you're not going to change the fundamental availability of bread if you stick to that. The best argument for a guaranteed income is much better to do that than to try to say put a wage floor on or a minimum wage by tampering with price signals.

Why is it that people in large cities like Paris or New York City people sleep peacefully, unworried about whether there will be enough bread or other necessities available for purchase the next morning? No one is in charge--no bread czar. No flour czar. And yet it seems to work remarkably well. Don Boudreaux of George Mason University and Michael Munger of Duke University join EconTalk host Russ Roberts to discuss emergent order and markets. The conversation includes a reading of Roberts's poem, "It's a Wonderful Loaf."