 This is not short, but is very readable and every paragraph considers societal issues that I think are vitally important. “Antimarket” by William Davies: Take-away: “Capitalism” and “the free market” are not at all the same thing, and the tension between them is crucial in whether or not we prevent our planet from burning. 3 comments
@timbray my short take on this has been for several years: US-style capitalism contains 3 elements: 1. entrepeneurialism 2. loosely regulated markets (for both contents, participants and prices) 3. preferentially distributing profits from human enterprise toward capital rather than labor and/or IP. My claim: you can have most of the eggs laid by the golden goose with just #1 and #2, you do not need #3.  @timbray indeed, excellent piece. It should all sort of be obvious, but instead. It’s obvious that it’s not. |
Gregory's Server
@timbray it has always struck me that all of the successful nations on earth are regulated, market, democracies.
And thus the critical questions revolve around how you regulate a market in a democracy.
But you are right, and this essay is right, that many people take a polemic shortcut. People on one side might call any sort of regulation "socialism,' and on the other they might call any sort of market "capitalism."