Notes: What I Wish I Had Said for: Scene on Radio: "Capitalism: Thirty Glorious Years"

What, truly, is the elephant we call "modern capitalism"? I have a lot to say. But almost all of it gets left on the cutting room floor of someone else’s podcast. To say what I wanted to say would...

What, truly, is the elephant we call "modern capitalism"? I have a lot to say. But almost all of it gets left on the cutting room floor of someone else’s podcast. To say what I wanted to say would have required that I have been given hours and hours to say it...

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My words and voice appear in a thing:

S7 E6: Capitalism: Thirty Glorious Years: How the balance of power shifted, for a time, in the decades after World War II, and led to a better kind of capitalism – if you think prosperity being broadly shared is a good thing. By John Biewen, with co-host Ellen McGirt. Interviews with Eric Rauchway and Brad DeLong. Thanks to the Studs Terkel Archive at WFMT. <https://sceneonradio.org/season-7-trailer-capitalism/> <https://sceneonradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/S7E6_Thirty-Glorious-Years_Transcript.pdf?x93684>.

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Whenever I give an interview which is itself not for broadcast or publication, but rather becomes fodder as a source of clips to be used in making someone else's argument, I find myself wincing afterwards whenever I happen to listen to it. I find myself thinking “that is not quite right” as the thread of the argument hops first two and then away from my words. Not, mind you that I think that John Biewen and Ellen McGirt did a bad job in making their argument, or that I am confident that their argument is not right in its essentials. It’s just that it is their argument and not mine.

So I sometimes feel like I want to get a weight off my chest by expounding all the words of mine that I wish they had included in their podcast at their full length. And now is one of those sometimes.

So here we go: What I wish I had been able to say for the program: Five big points, developed at greater length below the paywall fold:

• Recognize the Power of the Market: The importance of markets in creating wealth and prosperity, for they are essential for economic development due to their crowdsourcing capabilities.

• Recognize the Limitations of the Market: Limited to addressing issues that can generate profit, often neglecting needs that lack financial backing.

• Market Inequality: Capitalist markets inherently generate inequality by rewarding those who are lucky or skillful, rather than those most deserving or in need.

• Hayek's Perspective: Market-driven inequality is a necessary trade-off for freedom and that attempting to achieve social justice might undermine market efficiency and lead to undesirable outcomes.

• Polanyi's Perspective: Societies will demand more than simply property rights, seeking and rewarding governments that ensure fair pay, job security, and community stability.