THE MARKET SYSTEM
I got a nice letter from a client who had taped the following paragraphs from my newsletter onto his refrigerator. It’s worth repeating.
The left fails to understand that the free market is no more than the buying choices of the people. In the market economy the consumers are the kings and queens. Their buying decisions determine what companies succeed or fail. Any interference by the government means a reduction of buying choices. That’s another way of saying reduced freedoms. To succeed capitalists must strive to meet the needs of the consumer. Their motives may well be selfish but the consumers are merciless and they must serve them well or perish. It’s as near to a perfect system as humanity will ever achieve. Unfortunately, these days we have more socialism than capitalism and the market economy gets blamed for the sorry results of government intervention.
The left-wing proponents who denigrate capitalism must wear blinders. In the entire history of socialism they haven’t been able to create a single commercial innovation. Meanwhile, capitalism has showered us with so many material blessings we can’t keep track of them. That says nothing about the elimination of starvation, disease and great swaths of poverty. Capitalism provides opportunities, work and success. As professor Mises so clearly instructed, “If you seek its monument, look around you.”
