Greed is good… Capitalism baby!
I think this is one of the best commentaries in support of Capitalism. Milton was “da man!” as an economist!
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The point greed driven individuals miss is that profit and the national interest are not always the same. If the government is to promote the common welfare of the people, then there must be constraints on unbridled capitalism.
I don’t think that Friedman would disagree with you in the abstract. However, his point was that the belief that somehow socialism is ultruistic is misplaced.
And I also don’t think “unbridled capitalism” can truly exist. Capitalism to function efficiently needs a hegemon who isn’t engaged in the direct commerce. That means the government has to ensure the private property rights, contract enforcement, etc. That means necessarily that capitalism will need to be regulated to some degree.
What Friedman was against, however, was government moving from beyond ensuring that markets worked in favor of the common good to deciding what in fact the common good was (read my article on Taxes under Economy - it summarizes Friedman’s argument on Social Security quite well).
Unbridled capitalism exists when the profit motives move government policy, foreign and domestic. It seems to many that capitalism regulates government.
LOL! I’m sorry - when did Karl Marx walk into the room?
That’s a rather classic Marxian argument… and one which is not supported very well by history. The expansionist theory of capitalism as a destructive force is a classic Marxist argument.
The only reason why Capitalism expands is because it works… while it is far from perfect - I know of no other efficient way to distribute wealth.
Uncle Sam
UncleSam,nothing wrong with profit …….but from my humble perspective i see our foreign policy promoting the bottom line of KBR, Exxon, bailing out Bear Stearns. It may be a classic Marxian argument, but it is one that is true of the United States today. Let’s keep it fair…..time to end tax cuts on capital gains.