Redstate

Posted at 11:19pm on Jan. 15, 2008 Quotes That Catch My Fancy

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The problem for those of us who believe that capitalism offers the best chance we have for leading meaningful and worthwhile lives is that in this debate, the devil has always had the best tunes to play. Capitalism lacks romantic appeal. It does not set the pulse racing in the way that opposing ideologies like socialism, fascism, or environmentalism can. It does not stir the blood, for it identifies no dragons to slay. It offers no grand vision for the future, for in an open market system the future is shaped not by the imposition of utopian blueprints, but by billions of individuals pursuing their own preferences. Capitalism can justifiably boast that it is excellent at delivering the goods, but this fails to impress in countries like Australia that have come to take affluence for granted.

It is quite the opposite with socialism. Where capitalism delivers but cannot inspire, socialism inspires despite never having delivered. Socialism's history is littered with repeated failures and with human misery on a massive scale, yet it still attracts smiles rather than curses from people who never had to live under it. . . . Affluent young Australians who would never dream of patronising an Adolf Hitler bierkeller decked out in swastikas are nevertheless happy to hang out in the Lenin Bar at Sydney's Circular Quay, sipping chilled vodka cocktails under hammer and sickle flags, indifferent to the twenty million victims of the Soviet regime. Chic westerners are still sporting Che Guevara t-shirts, forty years after the man's death, and flocking to the cinema to see him on a motor bike, apparently oblivious to their handsome hero's legacy of firing squads and labour camps.

Peter Saunders. Read it all.

Posted in 2008 | Capitalism — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:29pm on Dec. 30, 2007 In Praise Of Mickey D's

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

George Will's commentary on McDonald's is as economically and sociologically fascinating as it is gastronomically interesting. I used to consider McDonald's fare a guilty pleasure. Nowadays, I still consider it a pleasure, only without the guilt. Read the whole thing.

(Thank to Don Boudreaux for the link.)

Posted at 12:48am on Nov. 30, 2007 Meanwhile, In Poland . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Friedmanesque policies are gaining momentum:

Posted in Capitalism | Foreign Affairs | Free Markets | Poland — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:49pm on Nov. 23, 2007 Implementing Free Market Reforms In Europe

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

It can be done:

The governments of Italy, Germany, France and the UK are struggling to reform their economies, but little is happening. Is it impossible to launch substantial reforms in these countries? Do countries need an economic crisis to change? Or can only small countries do it? Are Romano Prodi, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown stuck in a maze of reform obstacles?

Evidence from at least a dozen reformist countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development suggests not. Those that reformed substantially have had remarkable results. Ireland doubled incomes in a decade after dramatic reductions in the corporate tax rate; Spain integrated millions of immigrants into its labour market after deregulation; Sweden improved schools by allowing choice; New Zealand achieved full employment by labour market deregulation; Icelandic banks are all over Europe after privatisation and 16 countries introduced flat tax.

Several of these countries have brought about change in good econ­omic times, such as Australia, Sweden and Ireland. Crisis is not a prerequisite for reform. Bigger countries such as Spain and the US have reformed while some small ones have not. The four big European countries could definitely reform during this positive business cycle - in fact, it is an opportunity.

Success results from determination, political substance and strategy. Jean-Claude Juncker, former prime minister of Luxembourg, has said: "We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it." Reforms are seen as politically difficult. In fact, nearly all reformist governments in the OECD have been re-elected at least once.

It's nice to see that doing the politically courageous thing can reap politically attractive benefits. It is also nice to see that the article takes the time to point out the following:

Political hesitation is underpinned by several myths. One is that free market reforms have socially adverse consequences. This is not true. In the countries that have reformed the most, the groups that benefited the most were usually low-income earners and the unemployed. They got jobs and higher incomes.

There may be plenty of rationales offered to explain why free market reforms are not pursued more ardently. But there are very few--if any--actual acceptable excuses for the relative lack of reform that has been pursued in Europe.

Posted in Capitalism | Europe | Foreign Affairs | Free Market — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:28am on Nov. 22, 2007 Not The Best Music . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

But I like the lyrics.

Posted at 3:22am on Nov. 22, 2007 Giving Thanks For Thanksgiving

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Want to know about one of the forces responsible for the upcoming holiday? Try the free market.

Posted at 3:38am on Nov. 18, 2007 The Almost Perfect President Of France

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I will never cease arguing that Nicolas Sarkozy is an enormous improvement over Jacques Chirac and that his apparent admiration for the United States is most welcome.

Additionally, I will never cease arguing that when it comes to Nicolas Sarkozy, there is a lot of room for improvement:

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France yesterday said Europeans were suffering an "extremely deep identity crisis" linked to globalisation and excessive commercialisation and this meant Europe had to be more than a market and a set of rules.

In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, he said Europe had to be seen "as a protector, a life-enhancer, as a magnifier of strength, and as a shining cultural and political example".

Mr Sarkozy also repeated his support for the principle - still undefined - of "community preference" for EU businesses, saying the word "protection" should not be taboo in Europe.

He insisted he was talking about reciprocity in trade deals and independence in energy and food rather than protectionism per se. But Europe could not be the only part of the world to make competition a "religion", he said.

All of this protectionist winking and nodding sounds pretty bad. But wait! It gets worse!

Mr Sarkozy's speech won a lukewarm response from members of the European parliament. Some of the loudest applause came, ironically, from socialist deputies particularly for his attack on the "capitalism of speculators".

Graham Watson, leader of the liberal group MEPs, described Mr Sarkozy's speech as "Blair minus". Although equally impassioned as the former British prime minister's celebrated address to the parliament in 2005, it "was not very coherent on economic issues".

Alexander Stubb, a centre-right MEP from Finland, said: "As an economic liberal, I would hoped for a more vigorous defence of the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour."

As would we all. But more and more people are noticing that when it comes to the issue of free trade and free markets, Nicolas Sarkozy--improvement that he is--remains a huge disappointment.

Posted in Capitalism | Foreign Affairs | Free Markets | Free Trade | Nicolas Sarkozy — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:20pm on Nov. 11, 2007 Quotes (And Video) That Catch My Fancy

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

...it's a curious situation. You read the newspapers and you think the world is going to hell. You think the economy is doing badly. And yet, the truth is, that we have never in our history had as productive an economy as we do now.

--Milton Friedman. (Thanks to Greg Mankiw for the link.)

More Friedman:

Via Don Boudreaux. What sensible person does not miss Friedman nearly a year after his death?

Posted in Capitalism | Economy | Free Trade | Milton Friedman | The Economy — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »