Michael Barone Gets It

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/08/michael-barone-gets-it

New Michael Barone column:

The fact that the private-sector economy has not responded as administration economists expected and confidently predicted should be a wake-up call.

It shows the limits of expert knowledge and of the ability of political actors to make optimal economic choices.

The intellectual firepower of this administration may be high. But so was the intellectual firepower of the postwar British Labour governments that nationalized steel and auto companies and the railroads.

That didn't turn out so well, and for decades the British economy lagged behind those of America and its European neighbors. State capitalism has been tried before. It didn't work.

Market capitalism works better because it doesn't depend on one set of actors to make all the choices.

by Ira Stoll  |  Aug 11, 2010 at 11:32 am Related Topics:  Europe, Politics, Press receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list