Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit on 9/24: If your goal is to lift people from poverty, capitalism does what nothing else does. So, if that’s your goal, you should support capitalism. On the other hand, if your goal is to feel good about yourself, then choose another economic system. Help people Read more…
Capitalism does a better job providing freedom and equality than any other system. It is a far better option than feudalism.
Capitalism has been allowed to flourish in India since 1991. The results have been to release large numbers of Dalits from bonded labor. Previously those individuals were restricted to the most dirty, dangerous jobs.
Check out the results in this article by Swaminathan S. Ankelsaria Aiyar, writing at Cato Institute: How Capitalism Is Undermining the Indian Caste System.
(Cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
Article is reprinted in full under a Creative Commons license granted by the author: (more…)
Eventually I want to revisit the reputation of those horrid men who built the American economy at the end of the 1900s. They gave us massive breakthroughs in economic development.
Until I can write some extended articles, I’ll accumulate tidbits as I go.
Got to thinking about this when Bruce Oksol of Million Dollar Way pointed out
…that Rockefeller and Standard Oil single-handedly saved the whales from extinction
The first winter for the Pilgrims was terrible. Between starvation, pneumonia, and tuberculosis, about half died.
The second winter was terrible, again with little food. Those who survived the first two winters only did so by the goodness of the Native Americans who graciously shared their food.
The third winter was far better, with plenty of food. In a few years, there was enough abundance that the Pilgrims had paid off their debt to those who financed their trip. They were alive, thriving, and free of debt.
Those are a few highlights of the Pilgrims’ story told by Karl Denninger in his article from 2006, which is reposted at Market-Ticker: The Truth About Thanksgiving.
What caused the change from starving to thriving is the part of the story I never heard growing up.
There is a concept loose in the U.S. and emphasized in our educational system that the Puritans arrived in the U.S. believing in capitalism and went straight to economic prosperity.
Well, capitalism will definitely do that, but the Puritans made a few stops before getting to prosperity. Those included socialism, price controls, and severe caps on finance & trade under the guise of opposing usury. All of those policies will suppress economic development.
Jerry Bowyer explores this journey through false ideas is a series of articles, which summarize his interview with Mark Valeri, author of Heavenly Merchandize.
To encourage you to check out the full articles, I’ll try to summarize some key ideas.
7/30 – Forbes – Jerry Bowyer – Puritans vs. Capitalism: How A Theological Error Led To Financial Stagnation – In the 17th century, pastors and religious leaders were opposed to usury which included even discounting letters of credit more than a small amount. If you can’t use paper (bills of credit) to facilitate long-distance trading, there won’t be much trading.
At the most foundational level, capitalism is moral.
The only way to succeed in the long-term is to treat customers well and honestly. That will provide money to the company to continue paying staff and vendors as well as leaving a profit for owners.
If a company does not deliver a quality product or service that customers value with higher utility to them than the cost to provide by the company, then the company won’t be around long.
At the core level, it is moral to satisfy your customers with profit left over.
CPA Ron Baker makes this point more eloquently than me in his LinkedIn article, Are Corporations Socially Responsible?
By the way, the answer is yes.
(Cross-posted from my other blog, Attestation Update.)
If a corporation provides value to customers, both the company and customer will be better off after the transaction than before. That is a positive social value.
Doing so, within the framework of the law (as Milton Freidman points out) is the duty of a business and it is also highly socially responsible.
The following discussion is cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change. Why do I copy it here? Because at a foundational level, the radical increases in health, safety, and prosperity that started about 200 years ago are at the core a moral issue. I firmly believe it is a fundamentally Read more…
Creative video from Prof. Bryan Caplan explains Make Progress, Not Work.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fEbdgpIQ7n4]
(cross-post from Outrun Change.) A few highlights: