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Capitalism is complex, that's one side of it - that value can be created. Another side is that those with capital (whether inherited or earned) have a significa

Capitalism is complex, that's one side of it - that value can be created. Another side is that those with capital (whether inherited or earned) have a significant leverage over those who don't. This is what monopoly was designed to illustrate. This tends to lead to concentration of capital over time, and greater and greater inequality. In the end, it leads to impregnable monopolies if unchecked. Picasso was an interesting example to choose - he's a rare example of an artist who did well from their work, most die poor and their work is then sold for millions after their death, precisely because being able to create value does not mean you will necessarily be rewarded for that value, often the inverse - often others with capital are the ones who benefit from creation, not those who create. You can see this in art, games, engineering and in startups, almost any domain you care to think of - those who do the work are not necessarily or even usually those who benefit, those who control capital are the ones who benefit most, because it is not very hard to grow capital once you have it. So the trick is to have capital and control others who labour, not to work hard. Regulated capitalism is an answer to this fundamental imbalance. Progressive taxes, bans on monopolies, inheritance tax are all there to even the playing field a little, but it is still vastly skewed to those with capital rather than those who live off labour.

WalterBright 9y ago
> In the end, it leads to impregnable monopolies if unchecked. That's the conventional wisdom, but there are no examples of it happening, and examples of the reverse. Rockefeller's market share diminished throughout the years of SO's anti-trust trial. See "Titan" by Chernow.
roenxi 9y ago
Capitalism is indeed complex, and something I think gets missed in the popular perception is that capitalism depends completely on things like property rights and contract law. Basically, regulation and government is strictly required and the details of that regulation are always up for debate. That said, people who talk about 'evening the playing field' scare me. For starters, armchair analysts underestimate the amount of good done by greedy people in a well created market economy. For seconds, fairness is very expensive. And for thirds, people don't understand what the regulation of the current systems does. There is no need to pronounce capitalism doomed when it has such a track record of success.
- grey-area 9y ago
  capitalism depends completely on things like property rights and contract law Completely agree. Capitalism could not function without enforced property rights of all kinds. In addition regulation often hands out monopolies(e.g. Patents), sometimes usefully, sometimes distorting the market horribly, but regulation is also used to prevent monopolies and other forms of market abuse. a well created market economy Do you mean well regulated? Economies are not created. I agree enlightened self interest is useful and regulation is hard. fairness is very expensive Civilisation is expensive. Nobody is saying capitalism is doomed, but the heavily regulated version we have now is superior to unregulated capitalism, which leads to monopolies, cartels and other brutal forms of oppression.
sifar 9y ago
>> Regulated capitalism is an answer to this fundamental imbalance. This assumes that governments are incorruptible. Monopolies don't exist without government collusion. In the game of Monopoly, that part is played by the roll of the dice - which favors certain players. So ironically, more regulation would potentially lead to creation of bigger monopolies as it gives the capitalist's more incentive to influence the regulations and create monopolies for themselves. That is what we see happening in the real world.

WalterBright 9y ago

> In the end, it leads to impregnable monopolies if unchecked. That's the conventional wisdom, but there are no examples of it happening, and examples of the reverse. Rockefeller's market share diminished throughout the years of SO's anti-trust trial. See "Titan" by Chernow.

roenxi 9y ago

Capitalism is indeed complex, and something I think gets missed in the popular perception is that capitalism depends completely on things like property rights and contract law. Basically, regulation and government is strictly required and the details of that regulation are always up for debate. That said, people who talk about 'evening the playing field' scare me. For starters, armchair analysts underestimate the amount of good done by greedy people in a well created market economy. For seconds, fairness is very expensive. And for thirds, people don't understand what the regulation of the current systems does. There is no need to pronounce capitalism doomed when it has such a track record of success.

grey-area 9y ago
capitalism depends completely on things like property rights and contract law Completely agree. Capitalism could not function without enforced property rights of all kinds. In addition regulation often hands out monopolies(e.g. Patents), sometimes usefully, sometimes distorting the market horribly, but regulation is also used to prevent monopolies and other forms of market abuse. a well created market economy Do you mean well regulated? Economies are not created. I agree enlightened self interest is useful and regulation is hard. fairness is very expensive Civilisation is expensive. Nobody is saying capitalism is doomed, but the heavily regulated version we have now is superior to unregulated capitalism, which leads to monopolies, cartels and other brutal forms of oppression.

sifar 9y ago

>> Regulated capitalism is an answer to this fundamental imbalance. This assumes that governments are incorruptible. Monopolies don't exist without government collusion. In the game of Monopoly, that part is played by the roll of the dice - which favors certain players. So ironically, more regulation would potentially lead to creation of bigger monopolies as it gives the capitalist's more incentive to influence the regulations and create monopolies for themselves. That is what we see happening in the real world.