Great op-ed from the Times. A few telling excerpts:
Mr. Bush has too little hope, and too little faith.
Mr. Bush doesn't see how capitalism helps drive history toward freedom via an algorithm that for all we know is divinely designed and is in any event awesomely elegant. Namely: Capitalism's pre-eminence as a wealth generator means that every tyrant has to either embrace free markets or fall slowly into economic oblivion; but for markets to work, citizens need access to information technology and the freedom to use it - and that means having political power.
Right-wing hawks thrive on depicting tyranny as a force of nature, when in fact nature is working toward its demise.
Economic exclusion is especially perverse in cases where inclusion could work as a carrot.
Mr. Bush doesn't grasp the liberating power of capitalism, the lethal effect of luring authoritarian regimes into the modern world of free markets and free minds.
I wonder how many other holders of MBAs don't understand capitalism?
Posted by: Coob | January 30, 2005 at 01:31 PM
An MBA isn't a badge of belief in the power of markets unfortunately. Its one thing to understand and another to be able to absorb the short run harms.
Posted by: Adam | January 30, 2005 at 03:14 PM