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The whole point of capitalism

Todd Zywicki, commenting on David Brooks, writes:

But it seems to me that it is time to revisit this well and think about
an intellectual defense of freedom that is more than "it delivers the
goods."

In response, some commenters start debating whether capitalism really does delvier the goods" and I suppose the claim is harder to defend when unemployment is rising and many industries are struggling. This encourages Bob_R to comment:

I reject the premise that capitalism is currently failing to "deliver
the goods." The whole point of capitalism is to destroy companies like
GM and Chrysler. The whole point of capitalism is to destroy unions
like the UAW that favor older and retired workers at the expense of
younger workers and workers yet to come. The whole point of capitalism
is to destroy the "smart guys" who create defective financial products.
The whole point of capitalism is to punish us for electing a government
that enmeshes itself with the jokers above. The "current
unpleasantness" is a feature, not a bug.

It may not be quite the whole point, But as Milton liked to point out, it's a profit and loss system. The losses are just as important as the profits. This seems to be very out of fashion these days. It will be very interesting to see what the consequences are.

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