Jeffrey's Reviews > How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People and Free Markets Are the Best Answer in Today's Economy

OK, before you get your panties all in a twist, let's remember who's writing the book and particular bias. Hey, he's Steven Forbes, businessman, net worth $430 million, and editor-in-chief of Forbes, son of Malcolm Forbes, grandson of B. C. Forbes. Enough said. He comes from money and he is money. He's not working class and never has been. He's not a left-wing demagogue, pundit, social engineer or radical economist looking to blame all economic ills on capitalism. So from that perspective, this book is going to praise capitalism not bash it. OK, now we can move forward keeping particular bias in mind--hopefully an open one.

Contrary to popular liberal belief, to a great degree Forbes is right. In a perfect world capitalism based in limited govt. regulation, free markets, and free enterprise where people vote freely with their dollars as to whether a product and / or services lives or dies is a Godsend. However, as Noam Chomsky will tell you, it's really been state-capitalism for nearly the last eighty years where govt. bailouts and intervention has turned us more into a socialist than democratic state (but have we ever been a true democracy? With the Fed. Act of 1913 pretty much nips that idea in the bud, eh? Hell, even Jefferson believed in the idea of the intelligentsia running the country full of poor, ignorant slobs--yes, you and me).

And he does nip some general ignorance in the bud regarding certain issues:

-- “Free markets are best at serving the needs and wants of people.”
--”Self-interest -- not greed -- compels people in free markets to meet the needs and wants of others.”
-- “Only a dynamic, entrepreneurial private sector is capable of producing the growth and prosperity that we take for granted in a free society. Government command-and-control economies simply can’t do it.”
-- “Profit is a vital barometer in a democratic capitalist economy and the key source of investment capital.”
-- “The most effective regulation in the Real World establishes the ‘rules of the road’ and does not attempt to micromanage markets.”
-- “The best economic stimulus results when government unleashes the private sector by lowering tax rates and opening up markets. Government efforts to ‘stimulate’ or ‘fine-tune’ the economy -- through spending or monetary policy -- have never produced sustained long-term growth.”

All true, but what he isn't telling us is what Prof. Richard Wolff (Harvard, Stanford, Yale) is professing: there are seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism.

So as per usual, you can't just read one book on a topic as complex as economics and expect to get all you need to obtain a general understanding. You need to piece it together by reading several books written by several authors with differing biases, keeping in mind those biases and not freaking out or panicking when you see something that is"all wrong" in your opinion. And keep in mind, everyone has their blind spots, especially you, Mr. and Mrs. know-it-all reader (you know who you are.) Peace!

P.S.
Good book to read is Common Sense Economics. Simple and to the point. Smart people making a complex issue so easy to understand even school kids are getting a kick out of it. Good read.