Part 1 of A Discussion of Thomas D. Simpson’s Capitalism versus Socialism Chapter 2 “Market-Based Systems” If we are going to compare the four economic systems, we need to first define and understand each one of them. This is the chapter that focuses on market-based systems. While the title of the book…
Tag: Markets
Capitalism versus Socialism
Next We See What the Bible Says about the Four Pillars
Part 2 of A Discussion of Thomas D. Simpson’s Capitalism versus Socialism Chapter 1 “Pillars of Economic Systems” Last blog, I introduced the four pillars and the four economic systems they define. Now, Simpson is looking to the Bible for any direction for answering the four pillars. Pillar 1: Who Owns Property It…
Capitalism versus Socialism
Does the Bible Have Anything to Say About Our Economy?
A Discussion of Thomas D. Simpson’s Capitalism versus Socialism “Preface” Some years ago the author of the next book I am going to discuss, Thomas D. Simpson, was asked to give a talk about the different economic systems and which were most compatible with biblical teaching. Out of the research for that talk,…
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
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
Attitudes towards Bourgeois Betterment Historically Hostile
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 45 “Talk had been Hostile to Betterment” Dr. McCloskey opens this chapter with a story of a Mayan man from Guatemala, Oscar Chiquito, who had recently graduated from university despite long odds. And the long odds were due largely to his father’s hostility to…
Bourgeois Equality
Are Libertarians Right about Government?
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 16 “Most Governmental Institutions Make Us Poorer” Calling all libertarians! I think this chapter is for you. This chapter wraps up Part 2. Chapters 10 and 11 showed the Left’s explanations for the Great Enrichment were wrong, but Chapter 12 and 13 did the…