The Scourge of Economic Fundamentalism

I am old enough to remember when it was not uncommon for college sophomores to fall into the worst kind of simplistic,fundamentalist Marxism. They could be found almost anywhere on a college campus. Scruffy fellows (they were almost all men) with beatific expressions on their faces. They couldn't wait to tell you all about dialectical materialism, the system of thought that explained everything. A few of these people went into adulthood convinced they were riding the red tide of history. Everyone else seemed to snap out of it.

Which is why I remain completely mystified by the cult of Ayn Rand. I'll admit, I've never read Atlas Shrugged. But every discussion,summary or account of her thinking sounds free-market fundamentalism run amok. But here's the really strange part of the story.

This isn't just a fascination with 20-year-old social science majors with bad skin and limited social lives. Responsible adults actually believe this claptrap. (Remember Alan Greenspan's mea culpa over his naive belief that markets were always self-regulating?) This Sunday's New York Times featured another acolyte in high places: BB&T CEO John Allison who is a full scale evangelist for this stuff. It's a wonder the financial sector didn't melt down years ago.

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