The problem with capitalism

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:24 pm

I think this debate is about as much use as wondering why the world is so unfair and life is hard, it just is, and no amount of overweening government- or state-intervention is ever going to change that. That doesn't mean that governments can't do anything to alleviate social problems and economic inequality, they can of course, but only as long as they recognize that economic inequality is as much to do with human nature in general, and not just because rich people are all evil or that somehow poor people are poor because other people are rich, thats a fallacy. You cannot share wealth unless you actually create some in the first place to share, and, in general, Governments are very good at spending money, but when it comes to actually making money they tend not to be so great, thats because they are governments not businesses, governments should be there to create a framework in which the law and society can operate, not to actually micromanage society, thats a dead end that many clever people have ended up in, usually full of Utopian rhetoric promising everything and delivering nothing.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 8:04 pm

caesar777;487234 wrote: Do the children who's parents earn minimum wage have the same opportunity as those whose parents are millionaires?
They don't have the same starting point, but neither are limited except by their own imaginations and determination.

Taller boys have a better chance of becoming basketball stars, but that doesn't prevent the talented and determined shorty from doing the same.

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:37 am

caesar777;485965 wrote: Yes, we are free. If you have no money you are free to starve.

Yes here in the land of milk and honey......... we are ALL FREE to choose our paths...........Your choice..........

Here are just a FEW links to programs for the homeless in the USA offered by our government.......

this does NOT show ALL the FREE programs available to ALL.....

A few links from the LAND OF NASTY capitalists......

http://www.doe.org/help/?utm_source=goo ... m=homeless

http://www.cvm.org/

http://www.hud.gov/homeless/index.cfm

Food

Community Services Administration (Arizona Department of Economic Security)

Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (United Way)

Food bank locator (America's Second Harvest)

Food Stamp ProgramHealth care

Health care for the homeless information resource center

Health and Human Services page for homeless

Help U.S.A.: Homes, Jobs, and Services

National clearinghouse for drug and alcohol information

National resource center on homelessness and mental illness

Shelter Plus Care ProgramHousing

Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (United Way)

Emergency Shelter Grants Program

Help U.S.A.: Homes, Jobs, and Services

Housing Assistance Council: Building Rural Communities

Housing counseling

Local homeless assistance agencies

Second Chance Homes

Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Program

Shelter Plus Care Program

Supportive Housing Program

Title V of the McKinney ActJobs & job training

Help U.S.A.: Homes, Jobs, and ServicesResources for homeless veterans

National coalition for homeless vets

Veterans Administration page for homeless veteransThe Department of Health and Human Services offers a multitude of programs, grants, and services. Many of these programs help persons who have become homeless. Other programs are targeted to a much wider population. Listed below are the programs that specifically target homeless individuals and families.

Health Care for the Homeless

PATH -- Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)

Runaway and Homeless Youth

Services and Intervention Research with Homeless Persons Having Alcohol, Drug Abuse, or Mental Disorders

koan · Post by **koan** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 3:51 am

show 'em the pie, BTS

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:05 am

koan;488192 wrote: show 'em the pie, BTS

BTS · Post by **BTS** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:11 am

koan;488192 wrote: show 'em the pie, BTS

OR did you mean.. tweety PIE?

koan???????????

koan · Post by **koan** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:13 am

BTS,

you've forgotten your pie already?

Attached files

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:53 am

Diuretic;488211 wrote: And exactly why are all those programmes necessary?

And are all those programmes sufficient?
:wah: Now you're going to ridicule the programs because they're too plentiful??

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 6:38 am

Accountable;488035 wrote:

Taller boys have a better chance of becoming basketball stars, but that doesn't prevent the talented and determined shorty from doing the same.

Allan Iverson is one of the best in the game,..and he's also one of the shortest.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 5:51 pm

Diuretic;488479 wrote: Not at all! I was asking why they're necessary (it's okay our economy fails people as well) and if they were doing enough (our federal govt is a policy-free zone).
Collectively, they're doing too much imo. We've got generations learning to be dependent on such programs rather than themselves. I know that opinion frustrates you, Di, but it's mine.

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:01 pm

Was reading this and thought it would go well with this thread

A Conversation with Will Baumol on

Capitalism, Innovation and Growth

1. Introduction

William J. Baumol has been one of the most influential economists in the last fifty

years. Pioneering work in the theory of money, foremost research in the theory of

competition, industrial organization and technological change, notable analyses in the

theory of externalities and environment, influential research in the theory of productivity

and growth are, perhaps, his best known contributions.

In his most recent book, “The Free-Market Innovation Machine: Analyzing the

Growth Miracle of Capitalism, Baumol reconsiders his analysis of industrial

organization and technological change and makes one point: “Whatever the deficiencies

of the free-market, it is certainly very good at one thing: the manufacture of economic

growth. Baumol attributes the unprecedented and unparalleled growth performance of

capitalist economies to their ability to create and diffuse innovations and apply them to

different purposes. The entire book is devoted to explain this ability, to capture the

different mechanisms that make capitalism such a unique innovation and growth

machine. In other words, for Baumol is not static efficiency what makes a big difference

between capitalism and communism or capitalism and medieval societies: the great

disparity is in dynamic efficiency, i.e., in the pace of technological change useful for

industrial purposes. In this view, the fact that many actual capitalist economies are far

from the model of perfect competition, for instance because of oligopolistic power or

technological externalities (spillovers), is not necessarily negative for welfare. On the

contrary, Baumol shows that oligopolistic rivalry and spillovers have substantial positive

effects on the rate of innovation and growth.

On a methodological ground, the book is an invitation to economists to devote

more effort to discuss the process of innovation and growth. The theory of value- Baumol

argues - is by now well established and it is time to think more deeply about dynamic

issues. For this purpose, in many points of the book Baumol goes back to the analysis of

classical economists, Say, Marx and Schumpeter, the scholars who chose innovation and

growth as the main topic of their research activity.

On August 8th, 2002 we have interviewed Baumol in his office in the Department

of Economics at New York University. The interview lasted about one hour and a half.

We started our interview by discussing his new book and then moved to different topics,

such as globalization, labor market, growth in underdeveloped countries, environment,

education and heath systems, financial markets, history of economic thought and

methodology in economics. We have classified our questions in four groups:

The interview