The dismal science is at last a real science, with tangible benefits, says Guy Sorman.
M Sorman provides the answer in ten points – preceded by one of the best expositions on the history of economic science that I have ever seen. And all with, of course, reasons why he believes that these ten points are the right ten points to explain why economics has, as it were, come of age.
- The market economy is the most efficient of all economic systems.
- Free trade helps economic development.
- Good institutions help development.
- The best measure of a good economy is its growth.
- Creative destruction is the engine of economic growth.
- Monetary stability, too, is necessary for growth; inflation is always harmful.
- Unemployment among unskilled workers is largely determined by how much labor costs.
- While the welfare state is necessary in some form, it isn’t always effective.
- The creation of complex financial markets has brought about economic progress.
- Competition is usually desirable.
These ten propositions should guide all economic policy-making, and to an increasing degree they do, worldwide.
...
The best of all possible economic systems is indeed imperfect. Whatever the truths uncovered by economic science, the free market is finally only the reflection of human nature, itself hardly perfectible.
Guy Sorman, a City Journal contributing editor, is the author of numerous books, most recently The Empire of Lies: The Truth About China in the Twenty-First Century. His article was translated from the French by Ralph C. Hancock.
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Hazel's comment:
If you have any interest in the why of economic policy then this is a "must read".
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