A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 61 “And Therefore Bourgeois Rhetoric Was Better for the Poor” As Dr. McCloskey is wrapping up Part IX of her book addressing how both history and economics have been misunderstood, she is arguing against the notion that the worker are living under a “false…
Bourgeois Equality
And Profit Seeking Frees Workers, too.
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 60 “And Liberating in Production” Dr. McCloskey spears “one of the left’s economic dogmas” in this chapter — wage slavery. (p. 569) By dogma she means any “passionate belief held uncritically”. (p. 569) She notes wage slave is defined as “a person who is wholly dependent…
Bourgeois Equality
Profit Seeking is Egalitarian
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 59 “Trade-Tested Betterment is Democratic in Consumption” Sadly (to me as an economist) profit is often taken to be a dirty word, when in fact in a competitive market it is the driver to use our resources most efficiently, creating the most using the…
Bourgeois Equality
The Entanglement of Polanyi’s Embeddedness
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 58 “Yet Polanyi was Right about Embeddedness” Last chapter, Dr. McCloskey argued Karl Polanyi was wrong about his central point that capitalism rising in the 1800s was the first time markets had dominant influence on society. This chapter, she is agreeing with a secondary…
Bourgeois Equality
Polanyi’s Rose Colored Glasses
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 57 “And Many Polanyish Ideas from the Left” Dr. McCloskey critiques the ideas in Karl Polanyi’s 1944 book, The Great Transformation, that she says have shaped ideas about capitalism primarily for those on the left though she demonstrates how these ideas have permeated across the political…
Bourgeois Equality
Knowing the Source of the Great Enrichment Is Crucial
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 56 “The Change in Ideas Contradicts Many Ideas from the Political Middle, 1890–1980” Not only is this chapter starting Part 9 out of 10 of Dr. McCloskey’s book, but these last 2 parts are addressing the fourth, and last, big question: What are the…
Bourgeois Equality
Ideas Were, and Are, the Driving Force
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 54 “Yes, It Was Ideas, Not Interests or Institutions, That Changed, Suddenly, in Northwestern Europe” and Chapter 55 “Elsewhere Ideas About the Bourgeoisie Did Change” In these last 2 chapters of Part VIII of her book, Dr. McCloskey is returning to her main theme…
Bourgeois Equality
But It Was a Shallow Change
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 53 “It Was Not a Deep Cultural Change” Dr. McCloskey continues to examine the power of rhetoric, what we may now call the narrative, on society and the economy. Why did the Great Enrichment take root around 1700 in England? Capitalism and the Hockey Stick…
Bourgeois Equality
It Was a Rapid Revision of Rhetoric
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 52 “And Its Rhetoric Can Change Quickly” As Dr. McCloskey continues on in Part VIII with the argument that the belief in certain ideas created the modern world of wealth, she is now focusing on how quickly ideas can change. Why did the Great…
Bourgeois Equality
Sweet Talk at Work Matters More than You Think
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 51 “Sweet Talk Rules the Economy” No, this is not about inappropriate talk. Dr. McCloskey has been arguing all along in her book that the rise of ideas, rhetoric and language that respect the dignity of the bourgeois merchant was key to the Great…