Bit of wisdom from #Taoism / #Daoism and #Economics

Pretense, arbitrary decisions, and willful ignorance introduce friction into a market, as these impose information costs on both parties to transactions as well as on would-be transactors who must gather information to make an informed decision, and end up not transacting as a result of incorrect or unavailable data. This reduces the information available to make informed decisions and increases both external and internal costs, which in turn reduces wealth creation and creative experimentation.

This is especially pernicious in a centralized political market, where external costs already fundamentally require far more information to account for than the external costs of private transactions on a decentralized market, since the costs are more universally imposed and the effects of this are beyond the comprehension of most individual actors. It is also the case with any other criminal, liar, or teller of falsehoods: these too increase information costs and result in misdirection of the creative energies of individuals and of society.