Selfishness, greed and capitalism : debunking myths about the free market / Christopher Snowdon.

Author
Snowdon, Christopher [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • London, England : The Institute of Economic Affairs, 2015.
  • ©2015
Description
xxii, 204 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm.

Details

Subject(s)
Series
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references.
Contents
  • Machine generated contents note: 1. Capitalism relies on greed and selfishness
  • Incentives and the invisible hand
  • The parable of the steel company
  • Is greed good?
  • Conclusion
  • 2. Economists believe people are perfectly rational
  • Some models are useful
  • Rational choice and behavioural economics
  • Have we found angels to govern us?
  • Rational consumers and irrational voters
  • 3. Economists think GDP is all that matters
  • A blind obsession?
  • No design for life
  • 4. Economists think we live in a free market
  • A free market is not anarchy
  • Capitalists don't like free markets
  • Planning, private and public
  • 5. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer
  • Higher wages for all
  • The progress of the poor relative to the rich
  • 6. We are working ever longer hours
  • 7. Rich countries will not benefit from more economic growth
  • Growth scepticism
  • In defence of growth
  • 8. There is a paradox of prosperity
  • Other people's consumerism
  • Ferraris, Porsches and other preferences
  • 9. Inequality is rising in Britain
  • Why inequality rose in the 1980s
  • Taxes, benefits and inequality
  • Inequality and recession
  • The one per cent
  • 10. Inequality is the cause of health and social problems
  • Selection bias
  • Ignoring outliers
  • Dismissal of economic growth as a factor
  • Ignoring history
  • Mechanisms
  • Selective criteria
  • Consensus?
  • The panacea temptation
  • Why inequality?
  • 11. If you're born poor, you die poor
  • Absolute and relative mobility
  • Towards a meritocracy
  • Conclusion.
ISBN
  • 9780255366779 ((paperback))
  • 0255366779 ((paperback))
OCLC
904761448
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