Something a little odd in Russell Brand’s Revolution
We clearly weren’t going to get a deep and complex understanding of economics in Russell Brand’s little manifesto for a better world, Revolution. Nor, given that his amanuensis appears to be Johan...
View ArticleThis is a case of too little capitalism, not too much
The latest outrage that the Guardian tells us we should all be upset about is how the poor villagers of Nejapa, in El Salvador, get done over by the greedy capitalists taking all the water: Water...
View ArticleThe Civilisation of Capitalism
In Joseph Schumpeter’s (1942) Capitalism, Socialism & Democracy , Chapter 11 is entitled ‘the Civilisation of Capitalism’. There, he argues that the culture fostered by Capitalism has been...
View ArticleErr, yes Mr. Naughton, this is entirely the point
John Naughton, over in The Observer, is very worried about, err, capitalists being capitalists. Something of a pity really for someone, let alone a journalist, of his richness in maturity should by now...
View ArticleWhy is Polly whining about Downton Abbey?
La Toynbee is whining about Downton Abbey. How it shows the appallingness of old English society and how we’re coming back to that masters and servants type world again. Hmm: To control history by...
View ArticleWhere should one go to glory in the wonders of the world?
We were rather taken aback by one of those listicles telling us all about which roads we should drive along as part of that bucket list of experiences before we die. Here is it, you know the sort of...
View ArticleOxfam, capitalism, and poverty
After Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century told us about rising inequality, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a new report from Oxfam tells us the global 1% will soon own half of all the world’s...
View ArticleEconomic Nonsense: 18. Capitalism is disreputable because it is based on greed
This is a misinterpretation. Capitalism is based not on greed but on the legitimate aspiration of people to better their lives. Adam Smith spoke of “The uniform, constant, and uninterrupted effort of...
View ArticleEconomic Nonsense: 28. Capitalism brought about the financial crisis and...
Opinions differ on the causes of the financial crisis; some economists suggest it happened because of a combination of several causes. In the US sub-prime mortgages were involved, in that mortgages had...
View ArticleEconomic Nonsense: 50. Capitalism is unstable, subject to periodic crises,...
Capitalism is not a fixed thing, but rather a process which develops and changes in response to changing conditions, and especially changing technology. To say it is unstable is basically to say that...
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