November 30, 2013 Dear Sirs: Any Christian who questions the advice of Saint Peter’s earthly designate has to recognize the strength of the tide they are swimming against but Pope Francis has focused so exclusively on capitalism’s flaws that, in the spirit of Hayek and Friedman, it makes sense to contemplate its strengths as well. Foremost is the obvious, “a tenfold increase in real per capita income over two centuries”, that as Alan Greenspan has written soundly discredited central planning in the twentieth century. Then there is the matter of who makes the decisions in a planned economy given that the price signals of the numerous individual competitors that exist in a free market are absent. Who amongst us mere mortals has that considerable wisdom? Social justice plays a role, of course, since rewards often go to those who work the hardest and have the best ideas as John Locke suggested would result in the meritocracy that accompanies capitalism. But just how much would the world benefit from discouraging individual initiative in the pursuit of absolute equality? For a modern day example, look at Argentina where the pontiff grew up. Firmly in the grip of later-day Peronists who practice central planning with a vengeance, its recent history of nationalizing businesses, restricting free trade, and manipulating the currency has backfired with runaway inflation and wide spread scarcities that have made an international beggar of a nation that was once one of South America’s wealthiest. Certainly the Pope has a point about the allocation of resources and the responsibility of our Christian admonitions but hard evidence says capitalism should be celebrated and not discarded if we are to have a collective chance of prospering to the day of ultimate judgment. Gary Owen
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:31:58 +0000
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