Sowell on 'Enough Money'

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/05/sowell-on-enough-money

Thomas Sowell has a new column dissecting the president's comment that "at some point, you have made enough money." He writes: "There is nothing wrong with my deciding how much money is enough for me or your deciding how much money is enough for you, but when politicians think that they should be deciding how much money is enough for other people, that is starting down a very slippery slope." He goes on:

The moral bankruptcy of the notion that third parties can decide when somebody else has "enough" money is matched by its economic illiteracy. The rest of the country is not poorer by the amount of Bill Gates' fortune today and was not poorer by the amount of John D. Rockefeller's fortune a century ago.

Both men were selling a product that others were also selling, but more people chose to buy theirs. Those people would not have voluntarily continued to pay their hard-earned money for Rockefeller's oil or Gates' software if what they received was not worth more to them than what they paid.

by Editor  |  May 18, 2010 at 8:18 am Related Topics:  Definition of 'Rich' receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list