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The direction of progress is the direction of increasing accountability good book about that - https://www.amazon.com/Reckoning-Financial-Accountability-Rise-N
by dustingetz 3y ago
The direction of progress is the direction of increasing accountability
good book about that - https://www.amazon.com/Reckoning-Financial-Accountability-Rise-Nations/dp/0465031528/ https://www.amazon.com/Reckoning-Financial-Accountability-Ri... tldr thesis is that the invention of double entry bookkeeping is the thing that has caused modern prosperity, not capitalism. we can only cooperate to the extent that we can detect cheating. Consider a 1600s merchant – without the ability to detect fraud, how can you give your goods to a shipping company? Capitalism is only possible if you can count your capital! a memorable example was a French king (Louis XV?) who bankrupted the realm because he didn’t know how much money he had.
- Terr_ 3y agoIt makes for an kind of inherent contradiction--or at least tension--inside certain types of laissez faire capitalist thought, between perfect-information versus the autonomy of secrecy. On Monday, capital-C-Capitalism is celebrated as being the most efficient and economist-approved system (i.e. the bestest) when--if--there is somehow perfect price/deal information available to all actors. On Tuesday, no-True-Capitalism is lauded as immune to cartels and collusion, because any actor will quickly undercut the others with secret prices and deals and hidden identities and wash-trading. On Wednesday, Virtuous Capitalism needs no oversight because nasty behavior will be seen and detected by consumers who will vote with their wallets. On Thursday, Property-Respecting Capitalism refuses to infringe on the owners' essential freedom... to construct impenetrable webs of shifting corporate ownership to obfuscate all controlling relationships.