Tag Archives: free enterprise

“The Dung of the Devil”

Posted on by
Reply

 

My last post, “The Moral Case for Free Enterprise,” was motivated in part by a recent speech of Pope Francis comparing the excesses of global capitalism to the “dung of the devil.”
Capture2The scholar Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute has just published an interesting chart (just below) demonstrating an 80% reduction in world poverty in the 36 year period from 1970 to 2006.  He quotes AEI President Arthur Brooks that “if you love the poor, if you are a good Samaritan, you must stand for the free enterprise system, and you must defend it, not just for ourselves but for people around the world.  It is the best anti-poverty measure ever invented.”
CaptureIn a previous post, a year and a half ago, “A Global Perspective on Income Inequality,”  I referred to another chart (just below) to demonstrate the massive growth of income in the developing world.  To a large extent this is the result of economic globalization shifting low-skill employment from the developed world to the developing world where the cost of labor is less expensive. As Arthur Brooks says, “It was globalization, free trade, the boom in international entrepreneurship.  In short, it was the free enterprise system, American style, which is our gift to the world.”
Capture1So, yes, the world as a whole is now much better off but American workers have paid a price for the global shift in low-skill work.  The answer is not to impede globalization but rather to:

  • Speed up the growth of our own economy in order to raise wages and provide more jobs for the unemployed and underemployed.
  • Improve K-12 educational effectiveness and expand career educational opportunities to better prepare present and future workers for the many new high-skill jobs being created all the time.

The world is changing rapidly but there are effective ways for the U.S. to adapt if only we have the good sense to move forward!

The Moral Case for Free Enterprise

Posted on by
2

 

Capitalism is under attack around the world as Greek socialists complain about their hard- hearted EU creditors, American liberals such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren push the Democratic Party to the left, and Pope Francis compares the excesses of global capitalism to the “dung of the devil.”
CaptureOne of my favorite economic commentators is Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute.  One of his books is “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise,” which examines the most important economic issues facing the United States from a moral point of view.  For example:

  • Getting the U.S. Economy Growing Again. Weak economic growth means the end of opportunity in America. Furthermore, weak growth disproportionately hurts those who most need new economic opportunities: the poor. One strategy says that the key to restarting economic growth is the state: more stimulus, more taxes, more borrowing. A second strategy says the source of economic growth is free enterprise: tax reform, less government regulation, policies that make it easier for entrepreneurs to succeed, and a smarter immigration policy.
  • Putting America Back to Work. Jobs are not just a source of money for Americans; they are a ticket to earned success. High unemployment is unfair because it robs people of their potential fulfillment. It is especially harmful to the poor and the young. The key to job creation is to get the economy growing faster.
  • Getting the United States Out of Debt. Unless the U.S. reduces deficits, it will have just three choices: steal from future generations, inflate the currency to lower the value of the debt or refuse to pay those to whom it owes the money. All of these options are immoral because they are unfair: they harm others who have done no harm to America. Three points here: 1) we have out-of-control entitlement spending, 2) debt crises are more successfully dealt with through spending reductions than with tax increases and 3) there are no quick fixes.

Considering basic economic and fiscal issues from a moral perspective adds an important new dimension to the discussion.  We might disagree on the details of how to proceed but it is imperative to take effective action of some kind!