Can Capitalism Survive?. Benjamin A. Rogge

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       II Criticism of Current Policy

       III Conclusions

       Part VI On Money and Inflation

       Introduction

       Chapter 1 The Long-Run Economic Outlook

       Misconceptions about Inflation

       The Prophecy

       Chapter 2 Alleged Causes of Inflation: Corporate Monopolies

       Market Power and Inflation

       Can Inflation Be Cured by Making the Economy More Competitive?

       Part VII On the Problems of Cities

       Introduction

       Chapter 1 The Problems of Cities

       One Man’s Atlantis

       Right Rules Promote Right Outcomes

       Rule No. 1: Freedom of Exchange

       Rule No. 2: Property Rights and Control

       Explicit Ownership, No Zoning

       Rule No. 3: Only Minimize Coercion

       Nonmarket Pricing of Services

       Summary: Toward the Good City

       Part VIII On Education

       Introduction

       Chapter 1 Financing Higher Education in the United States

       Statement of the Problem

       The Effect of Below-Cost Pricing on Higher Education

       Problems of Finance

       Problems of Rationing

       Problems of Motivation

       Problems of Educational Efficiency

       Customer Control

       The Arguments for Below-Cost Pricing

       The Social Benefits of Higher Education

       The Egalitarian Argument

       Education and Equality of Opportunity

       Conclusions

       Recommendations

       Chapter 2 The Promise of the College

       Part IX On What to Do

       Introduction

       Chapter 1 The Businessman and the Defense of Capitalism

       Chapter 2 Reflections on the Election of 1964

       Chapter 3 The Foundation for Economic Education: Success or Failure?

       Index

Foreword

      One of the signs of advancing age in the American college professor is a tendency for him to write less and publish more. This seeming paradox is easily explained by the phenomenon of Collected Works, that is, by what on television would be described as reruns. As in television, no great public outcry is needed to bring forth the reruns; a question from his wife, a polite suggestion from a colleague, and the cut-and-paste operation is under way.

      I have put together here what I believe to be the best of the rather meager output of my professional career up to this point. For reasons (mostly financial) that always seemed adequate at the moment, I have been more of a speechmaker than a writer. Thus, you will find that many of the pieces in this collection are but speeches put down on paper.

      I have edited the manuscripts, but only to make them more readable and to reduce duplication of ideas and phrasings. In most cases, I successfully resisted the temptation to erase those statements that, in the light of later knowledge, would cast doubt on my omniscience (for example, some moderate words in praise of Richard Nixon, written in May 1971). The papers are grouped in categories that make sense to me, but obviously some of the papers could as easily have been placed in other groupings.

      Some of those holding the markers for my intellectual debts are identified in the papers; others, just literally too numerous to mention, will have to be content with an occasional and probably very accurate, “But of course I said that long ago—and more elegantly.”

      Very explicit words of appreciation need be directed to Catherine Fertig, my secretary and an expert at deciphering handwritten manuscripts; to Marise Melson, my daughter and copyeditor, who is possessed of a good sense of style in manuscripts and in life; and to my late wife, Alice, for her patient, loving, and low-key nagging of me to finish this project.

       Can Capitalism Survive?

PART I

       Can Capitalism Survive?

Introduction

      The basic ideas of this paper were expressed on a number of occasions and in various forms. It was first presented in the exotic setting of a business conference held at the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. In somewhat different form, it was later presented in the Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series at Hillsdale College. I am presenting it here as the first paper because it poses the Big Questions—as identified by Joseph Schumpeter and agreed to by Ben Rogge.

Chapter 1

       Can Capitalism Survive?

      Can capitalism survive? No, I do not think it can. The thesis I shall endeavor to establish is that the actual and prospective performance of the capitalist system is such as to negative the idea of its breaking down under the weight of economic failure, but that its very success undermines the social institutions СКАЧАТЬ