Via Negativa is our approach to defend the Spontaneous Order of the Social Market Economy against State Capture, Corruption, Black Markets and other forms of illiberalism. The term itself is not ours, as several scholars have coined it, among them Nassim Taleb. We seek to use this inductive approach to our best knowledge on a case-by-case basis.  The difference between this page and the 'Leaks' section is that the latter one refers to external sources whereas this page is intended to make assessments independently. 

The approach entails that everything illiberal must be chipped away at. This not a form of central planning for it leaves the spontaneous order itself intact, it is a continuous process in its own right. 

Several assumptions must be accounted for, namely:

- State Capture is a major source of economic disruption. It is not automatically illegal by definition due to its corrosive impact on the legislative process. Nevertheless, it is by definition illiberal. 

- Whatever is illiberal from the aggregate (social) market standpoint may in fact be beneficial from the perspective of an individual agent or a collection of agents, which gives them an incentive to engage in illiberal practices or cartels. 

- Counterparty risks should be taken into account, which entails opposing interests. Thus what may appear as a gain in the spontaneous order may count as a loss in the Off-Balance Sheet system. These kinds of procedures should not be confused with State Capture but do constitute a risk in their own right. 

- There may be rare cases in which the market is not in equilibrium and where illiberalism arises as a result of Black Swans. There is no guarantee that these are attributable to any particular agent, which makes classification and the assignment of liability more difficult. 

- Natural monopolies may arise absent government interventions. It is up to the judicial branch of governments to determine their legality. 

- RegTech (along Algorithmic lines) is a crucial tool in identifying State Capture and other forms of market corruption, particularly when digital channels (such as Crypto networks) are concerned.