Editor's Page
Cohen, Mitchell
ARE THERE dumb laws of nature? This reasonable question occurred to me some years back after I heard an eminent economist explain why automakers ought not to be compelled to install seat belts....
...Pose a hard question and it will be dismissed by faith-based economists with the wave of a very visible hand...
...Isn't conflating markets and tides a little like acclaiming real estate moguls as "developers...
...Business will prosper and everyone will be free and safe (save those who went through windshields...
...he asks...
...But does a rising tide truly lift all boats, as the ideological cliche has it...
...Is "tide" even the right word...
...A good way to begin is to ask what values and what frameworks should inform economics— both on the global and national levels...
...Does "growth" alone define well-being...
...Sales will rise...
...Against "our Panglossian media and experts," he maintains that we should appraise growth in light of its impact on the real circumstances of the global poor...
...He forgot to conclude that nothing human is natural to us...
...Yes, it is safer to wear them, he granted, but our natural liberty is violated if human laws force us to be safe...
...n Thomas Pogge's important article scrutinizes (with both eyes) what might be called one-dimensional notions of economic growth...
...He explores the role of "private equity" funds in really-existing capitalism...
...n Toy manufacturers in China and Communist Party bosses there may appreciate this way of thinking, but my social democratic ears hear "free" market faith-healing...
...Stephen F. Diamond's article examines the upper reaches of our economic order...
...n No, I don't advocate old left mistakes like the abolition of markets or the creation of command economies...
...He urges us to refocus on the desperate straits of so many people around the world...
...He challenges labor and the left to articulate viable, alternative forms "of organizing economic activity...
...They lack what Avishai Margalit, in his article on sectarianism, calls "the perception of depth that comes from the use of both eyes...
...There is a better way, he suggested: the market...
...Really-existing capitalism vanishes into its own "logic...
...But I would suggest that some demystification is in order these days...
...If there are enough lethal accidents, sales will fall...
...What are the consequences of inequity in growth...
...Or does it raise a disproportionate percentage of luxury liners...
...After all, ocean currents are not designed by men and women, while markets are human activities...
...And isn't it odd that some thoughtless proponents of globalization sound like economic determinists...
...Companies will recognize their self-interest and put in seat belts...
...as a wit once queried...
Vol. 55 • January 2008 • No. 1
