Deliberative democracy serves to fill in the gaps left open by other social mechanisms, such as the marketplace, argues critical theorist Jürgen Habermas. In contrast, Austrian economist F. A. Hayek argued that the communicative power of competitive markets is vastly superior to politics for coordinating an increasingly complex and dynamic society.

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Other Independent Review articles by Michael Wohlgemuth
Fall 1997 Has John Roemer Resurrected Market Socialism?