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ESSAYS IN PUBLIC POLICY

Capitalism and its Discontents: The Adam Smith Address
By Michael J. Boskin

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Essay

A review of episodes in economic and intellectual history indicates the superiority of a limited government market economy over the alternative models of economic organization. The siren calls of pundits, politicians, and even some economists in favor of communist central planning during the Great Depression; market socialism after World War II; and, more recently, massive welfare states and/or extensive government micromanagement of markets each ran afoul of their own problems and comparisons to the limited government (based on sound criteria) capitalist model. The limited government capitalist model, once again under attack from those who would greatly expand the role of government, needs its defenders, as the alternative models have proven historically, intellectually, and practically bankrupt.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | ESSAY |


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