I just started reading The Logic of the Market: An Insider’s View of Chinese Economic Reform,” by Weiying Zhang. Zhang has a way of putting things in simple terms, like good and bad. He describes capitalism as a system where one cannot get ahead without helping others get ahead. A corollary is one cannot get happy without helping others be happy. Zhang defines trade as essential for building trust as economies grow too large for personal interactions. If people do not trade value for value, then they are engaging in extortion, fraud, or theft. Government is the only body that doesn’t have to trade value for value in a free economy. It can return junk for taxes forcefully collected.
Editorial: Government can also pride itself on believing it can rob other communities by purchasing cronies to locate within its boundaries. But the joke’s on them; the other communities are probably much better off without the mooches.
