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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2014
Designing Deception
The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said “This is mine,” and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau)People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
(Office of Strategic Services, describing Hitler's psychological profile)All over the globe people experience frustration when buying and selling. Not infrequently the frustration involves more than a hint of fraud, as in “I was gypped!” Criminal fraud in buying and selling is quite common. More common are the day-to-day disappointments that result from believing what you read in advertising propaganda.
Despite these repeated disappointments while shopping, an amazingly large number of people oppose government restrictions on markets, for the apparent reason that these regulations would limit the benefits markets allegedly deliver. This combination presents a perplexing contradiction. Everyday experience informs people that markets are fraught with disappointment and fraud. Many if not most of these people believe that markets should be regulated only in exceptional circumstances.
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