if, instead of running an economy, we talked about something that has a few similarities, i doubt folks would come to the discussion with strong convictions.
take a system like roads. roads provide the marketplace for people travelling. some people might say, let's have no rules. everyone knows you'd have a lot of accidents. other people might say, let's put traffic lights every ten yards. everyone knows that would create nightmare traffic jams. other people might say, make everyone go on buses, but most times, i want to go on a journey that no one else is taking so taking a bus is inefficient.
how do we deal with roads? well, we have some general rules, such as what side folks should drive and how traffic lights work. we have some industry regulations defined by the government such as how high bridges should be built and what sort of cars should be allowed on the roads. we have some industry choices such as how cars are designed. we have personal choices like what trip do we want to take. we have some regulations on drivers such as how fast can you drive. highway patrol officers keep an eye on the traffic.
few people argue with the principles of the road economy. most see that there's a public good in everyone being able to travel. the road market allows private activity and things like buses to run through it. there are systems in place to make sure people don't ignore the rules.
it's the same with an economy. people might start by assuming principles. but when you look closely, the reality is more complicated.
for myself, i say it's best to start with the assumption that the detail isn't going to submit to ideals. but that ideals should submit to the detail. delivering a functioning road system means you learn over time what rules you need and you try to be as practical as possible. same with an economy.
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