Deirdre McCloskey (no) and Jason Furman (yes) will be debating at economist.com over the next week whether capitalism is rigged. Furman opens with a claim about how powerful interests help write regulations. McCloskey begins with the innovation of the past two hundred years. The debate comes down to the question of definition. Is capitalism an economic system based on free markets that more or less has raised living standards for the vast majority of people since 1776 or is it the more narrowly viewed system of government-corporate symbiosis that both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump campaigned against in 2016. Voting on day one is running 76% in favor of the proposition that capitalism is rigged.
by Joseph Coletti
Senior Fellow, Fiscal Studies, John Locke Foundation