| Continued On the idea of Capitalism as an Outdated System unfit for the First World
-------- > though, it did also cause that problem One could make an argument that government subsidization of roads resulted in urban sprawl and general lack of population density, which resulted in a ton of transportation being done with cars, the least efficient form of transportation. Another argument one could make is that restrictions on nuclear power have had a disastrous effect on emissions. If nuclear power was more widespread, electricity would be cheaper (an economic boon) and much, much cleaner. > But it is increasingly proving to be inadequate to address the problems of first world nations. The market economy created first-world nations. - Countries which are more free economically are more prosperous compared to similar countries which are less free
- Countries which free up their economies are more prosperous afterwards
- Countries which restrict their economies are less prosperous afterwards
- Industries which are more free have more innovation and are more consumer-friendly Free trade is well-known by every version of economics to be a huge boon for every country involved. > The poor are poorer & account for a larger percentage of the US population as compared to 30 years ago. Increasing or stagnating poverty is a result of bad government policy including the drug war and the welfare gap. > money in politics, sophisticated AI in sales, marketing, & advertising, unprecedented range of automation, & radically diversified/global scale business means that the consumer has simply lost any power in the market in all but the most extreme cases Citation needed. Also, what kind of policy would you propose to "fix" this without having drastic damaging unforeseen consequences? > Highly organized & well funded corporations, organizations, & industries have power in the modern day (both through technology and through politics) that they could have never dreamed of just a few decades ago. The amount of power an organization can have through politics is a function of the amount of power the government has. Technology works both ways: it allows organizations to have more power but in the same proportion if not more allows for individuals to have more power. See: the printing press. > That's why I believe that smart regulation on business is extremely important in the modern day. Corporatism and cronyism is a blight. Rent-seeking and regulatory capture are widespread, and the only way of getting rid of them is to reduce the power of the government in those areas. > I also believe that it's imperative that we start exploring new economic models, in search of something better than capitalism Like what? The economic calculation problem is unlikely to go away. > it might already be showing its cracks The state creates those cracks by continuously pounding the market with regulation and other distortion factors. |