Upon first reading the debate, I thought it seemed very similar to arguments which might be had in today’s political and economic climate, with conflicts between privatization of business and government control, in this case with the learned men (Confucian disciples) wanting to increase business privatization by dismantling the government-controlled monopoly of salt and iron, and the government under Emperor Wu and his successor wanting to continue with the monopolies for obvious reasons. I thought an interesting line from the learned men was that, “When profit is not emphasized, civilization flourishes and the customs of the people improve.” It seemed to me that this was somehow at odds with the privatization stance the learned men were arguing, since, under capitalism, privatization and profit are linked. This made me realize how different the economy these men were living under was from the one we know in America today.
Going back to the quote mentioned above, I would say that I somewhat agree with it, in the sense that no government should emphasis profit over human life/suffering, which I believe is what the learned men were arguing. However, I would differ from the learned men by saying that private businesses should also be wary of putting profit before everything else, as this too can lead to suffering.