A celebration of imperfect capitalism
12 January 2024
SUGGESTED
Government and Institutions
Matthew Lesh writes for City AM
12 January 2024
Economics
Economic Theory
11 November 2024
Arthur Seldon's research featured in EconLib
Corrigible Capitalism, Incorrigible Socialism, an essay praising free market capitalism by former IEA Co-President Arthur Seldon, has been reviewed in EconLib.
The piece said:
“I was delighted when Pete Boettke chose Arthur Seldon’s under-appreciated The Virtues of Capitalism as our December selection for our No Due Date book club. I was excited to dig into one of those titles I had not yet read. And I’m very glad I did.
“The history of Seldon’s conversion from socialism to capitalism and the history of his work with the Institute of Economic Affairs is certainly interesting. But Pete really got my attention when he said he wished every economic educator would read ‘Corrigible Capitalism, Incorrigible Socialism’.”
“Seldon admits right up front that capitalism isn’t perfect; indeed he agrees that there are some “evils” inherent in capitalism, including income inequality, the tendency toward monopoly, worker alienation, and externalities. However, contrary to the ills of socialism, all of these are remedial. The greatest weaknesses of the state economy- ignorance, inefficiency, social conflict, [also] monopoly, corruption, and coercion- are inherent in the system and cannot be solved. This is very different than the defenses of capitalism we often hear, whether based on efficiency or moral claims.”
Read the full review here.
The piece said:
“I was delighted when Pete Boettke chose Arthur Seldon’s under-appreciated The Virtues of Capitalism as our December selection for our No Due Date book club. I was excited to dig into one of those titles I had not yet read. And I’m very glad I did.
“The history of Seldon’s conversion from socialism to capitalism and the history of his work with the Institute of Economic Affairs is certainly interesting. But Pete really got my attention when he said he wished every economic educator would read ‘Corrigible Capitalism, Incorrigible Socialism’.”
“Seldon admits right up front that capitalism isn’t perfect; indeed he agrees that there are some “evils” inherent in capitalism, including income inequality, the tendency toward monopoly, worker alienation, and externalities. However, contrary to the ills of socialism, all of these are remedial. The greatest weaknesses of the state economy- ignorance, inefficiency, social conflict, [also] monopoly, corruption, and coercion- are inherent in the system and cannot be solved. This is very different than the defenses of capitalism we often hear, whether based on efficiency or moral claims.”
Read the full review here.
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