Counterfactual Concession to the Looters

With regard to government planning and the implementation of plans: Mises said there is a calculation problem; Hayek said there is a knowledge problem; I say there is a crime problem. Those who control the state seek power and plunder, and as a rule they get, more or less, exactly what they seek. Mises and Hayek framed their arguments by crediting the planners’ stated intention to promote the general public interest. I choose not to make such a counterfactual concession to the looters.