American capitalism isn’t working for everyone – Marketplace
“The U.S. economy is kind of a strange beast. It’s a mix of free market, government regulation, individual entrepreneurship, and corporate governance that has evolved and grown over the last 240 years. And while there are plenty of benefits to that system, it hasn’t worked for everyone.
“In his latest book, “What Went Wrong with Capitalism,” author Ruchir Sharma, who is also the chairman of Rockefeller International, attempts to look at who’s getting left out of American capitalism and why. The following is an excerpt from Sharma’s book, looking at how the government’s relationship to corporate bailouts has evolved over the last century.”
What happened to “creative destruction?” Does the US government provide too broad a safety net for failed corporations and the owners of capital? Too much risk – and not enough opportunity – for middle- and lower-income workers? CCSE work in this area:
Biden’s stimulus risks sending aid to those who don’t need it – op-ed
Would subsequent inflation have been lower if Covid stimulus had been more targeted to people who needed the money to get by?
Why economist Joseph Stiglitz is advocating for “progressive capitalism”
The life of Maynard K.: A review of Zach Carter’s “The Price of Peace” – Branko Milanovic
“…the book highlights the fundamental philosophical incompatibility between Keynes and the Austrians like Hayek and Mises. …The incompatibility is based in the difference in the systems of value. For Hayek, economic mechanism of laissez-faire was a value in itself. Freedom to trade, to hire and fire, the sanctity of private property were values as such and independent of the outcomes to which they led. Indeed, Hayek and Mises believed that they would lead to higher income and thus greater happiness, but even if they did not–even if they led, as they often did, to monopoly and monopsony, depression and unemployment, political corruption and social stratification—they were still to be defended because they were valuable as such. This was freedom for Hayek.
“But not for Keynes. Economic activity for Keynes, whether free trade, directed trade, government-controlled or whatever, was not a value in itself. It was a tool. Economic policies and even the economic progress were merely the tools supposed to bring to the humankind the end of scarcity and general abundance.”