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plungesponge · 41-45, M
The example that is always trotted out in support of capitalism is where one person who is good at producing an item voluntarily trades it with someone else who is good at producing another item and everyone's standard of living improves.
I can totally see how this is a far superior system to any centrally planned economy, where essentially some group decides how much an item should be, trying to keep up with the infinite variables that play out in every interaction, an impossible exercise that usually results in huge waste and the central planners having to impose societal behaviour controls to make people conform to the economic model.
The part I'm sketchy about is whether capitalism inevitably ends up with crony capitalism, where some group gets so big they essentially rewrite the rules to create a monopoly. A few things are clear though: Companies should not have the power to buy politicians, and politicians should not have to rely on corporate money just to exist. Fractional reserve banking should not exist, and fiat currency should not exist.
I can totally see how this is a far superior system to any centrally planned economy, where essentially some group decides how much an item should be, trying to keep up with the infinite variables that play out in every interaction, an impossible exercise that usually results in huge waste and the central planners having to impose societal behaviour controls to make people conform to the economic model.
The part I'm sketchy about is whether capitalism inevitably ends up with crony capitalism, where some group gets so big they essentially rewrite the rules to create a monopoly. A few things are clear though: Companies should not have the power to buy politicians, and politicians should not have to rely on corporate money just to exist. Fractional reserve banking should not exist, and fiat currency should not exist.