Michael Rectenwald has a nice piece at the libertarian Mises.org, discussing conspiracy theories. I would have thought that the followers of Mises would be opposed to conspiracy theories, but a balance presentation is given. The main objection made by the likes of Popper is to grand conspiracy theories that attempt to explain everything that happens; these ignore unintended consequences of actions, and random noise events, even chaos factors and Black Swam events. But, we are not of that type, having clearly defined actors, with empirical evidence for what they do. The most interesting point I have seen for a while is this: “Why, then, are “conspiracy theories” and “conspiracy theorists” so categorically dismissed and denounced? As Murray N. Rothbard suggested, the campaign against conspiracy theories is a part of a conspiracy to protect conspiracists themselves. All those who conduct conspiracies, including bank robbers, have every reason to divert and deflect attention away from their activities; only some conspirators have the power to do so. The latter have invented the taboo against conspiracy theories and propagated it. Their vassals in academia, the media, and society at large obediently enforce the taboo and routinely denigrate offenders. This is one way of keeping conspiracies hidden and conspirators off the hook. Instead of exposing them, the enforcers of the conspiracy theory taboo exonerate their felonious lords and laud them to the ends of the earth. Thus, those who aim to destroy all conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists are servants of the powerful and the enemies of truth.”