The Power of Positive Thinking

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I think Norman Vincent Peele is a good example of that, the power of positive thinking. But it's also good to recognize that there are many things in the world that happen that are not our fault and sometimes we do need the help of our fellow citizens or government. That's where rules and regulations can actually be empowering and enable you to do things that you couldn't do if you didn't have those rules and regulations. It was even though I wanted to love this movie, it was terrible. And I knew that I would. You talk about the trilogy of Atlas Shrugged. The first hundred pages were difficult; just get to the first hundred pages was difficult. Even though I wanted

Shermer and Oreskes discuss: the myth of market magic • market fundamentalism • market absolutism • market essentialism • capitalism and democracy • well-regulated vs. poorly regulated capitalism • U.S. Constitution and capitalism • what the founding fathers believed about markets • what Adam Smith really said about markets and capitalism and how economists rewrote Adam Smith • why markets need regulation in the same way sports need rules and referees • rhetorical fallacies of market fundamentalists • child labor laws • bank failures • Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 • Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman • religion and capitalism • think tanks • collective action problems.

Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. Her TED talk, “Why We Should Trust Scientists,” was viewed more than a million times. Erik M. Conway is a historian of science and technology and works for the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of seven books and dozens of articles and essays. Their new book is The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market.