Larks comments on (One reason) why capitalism is much maligned - Less Wrong

1 Post author: multifoliaterose 19 July 2010 03:48AM

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Comment author: multifoliaterose 19 July 2010 04:22:07AM 0 points [-]

Minor nitpick: economic inequality exists in other systems as well, it just often isn't as severe.

Yes, I agree, there's always economic inequality, what I was trying to say was something like "without capitalism, we wouldn't be living in a world where some people make 10 million times as much money as other people." (Maybe I should edit my post accordingly?)

There's a TED Talk by Matt Ridley that touches on some of these issues.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Comment author: Larks 20 July 2010 03:43:59PM *  0 points [-]

There is some evidence (p25) that economic inequality isn't correlated with economic system; specifically, that the share of income going to the poorest 10% is uncorrelated with economic freedom. As Friedman put it, the pay multiple between boss and worker in the USA and USSR were the same; the difference was that the American boss could only fire you, whereas under communism, you could be shot.

Secondly, comparing the wealth of Americans with the residents of chad is a bit tangential, unless all live under one economic system. If Chat doesn't operate in the same system as America, the same comparison could simply be evidence for the superiority of the American system. The inequality within America is a more relevant piece of information here.