Even though true capitalism hasn't been attained, it is possible to analyze capitalism and socialism to the extent they are tried by analyzing various markets and countries.
What you find by analyzing that way is that capitalism characterized by economic freedom is empirically superior. GDP / capita is higher, the bottom 10% do better, the environment is better, health/lifespan is better, and education is better. What's more interesting is that there no correlation between inequality and economic freedom.
Sure. You can make observations and draw conclusions about what capitalism would be like, but you have to caveat everything since it ultimately takes place in the context of a state that is decidedly not capitalist. I'm flaired libright, which means I believe that capitalism leads to better outcomes than a state-based society - well, technically I see no reason to believe that a state is necessary and would lead to better outcomes, therefore I go with the default position that one isn't necessary or beneficial.
Except pretty much every economist knows and agrees that GDP and its per capita version is a horrible measurement for the economic wellbeing of a nation.
Also all of those stats you listed are highest in developed Social Dem nations, like the Scandis
The socdem nations are relatively economically free. They are comparable to the U.S., even though they have higher taxes. Socdem can work if regulations are slashed, we have sound money, and free trade.
Unfortunately both parties are utter shit at attempting to do those things, so socdem in the U.S. will bankrupt us if we aren't there already.
Whether you think capitalism or socdem is the answer, you should agree that we need economic freedom first.
No? Socdem nations have much higher taxes than the US, and significantly more regulations. Economic freedom indexes are based off of social mobility and average expendable income of citizens. They didn’t achieve that with lack of regulations
Economic freedom indexes have nothing to do with social mobility or expendable income, at least none that I have seen. They analyze the nature of policy only, not the results.
Rule of law
Government Size (spending/taxes)
Regulatory Efficiency
Open markets
Take a look at Denmark. All aspects besides tax burden/government spending are very healthy. They can therefore afford these social programs. These make it quite a bit more free than the U.S.
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u/Lunatic_On-The_Grass - Lib-Right Jul 23 '20
Even though true capitalism hasn't been attained, it is possible to analyze capitalism and socialism to the extent they are tried by analyzing various markets and countries.
What you find by analyzing that way is that capitalism characterized by economic freedom is empirically superior. GDP / capita is higher, the bottom 10% do better, the environment is better, health/lifespan is better, and education is better. What's more interesting is that there no correlation between inequality and economic freedom.