Poverty is the problem, not the wealth of other people

Rick Lowe

Listening to the "fairness" debate around the water cooler reminded me of Dr. Deepak Lal's book, Reviving the Invisible Hand: The Case For Classical Liberalism In The Twenty-First Century, that was released in 2006.

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The liner notes explain that Dr. Lal:

"Taking a broad cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach, Lal argues that there are two groups opposed to globalization: cultural nationalists who oppose not capitalism but Westernization, and "new dirigistes" who oppose not Westernization but capitalism. In response, Lal contends that capitalism does not have to lead to Westernization, as the examples of Japan, China and India show, and that "new dirigistes" complaints have more to do with the demoralization of their societies than with the capitalist instruments of prosperity."

And I think he is right. Just look at the charts on the left from Chapter 5 (page 133) of his book that records how long the world was mired in poverty. In other words, as a result of Capitalism, millions have been brought out of poverty.

Isn't it time we realised that people getting wealthy is not the problem? The problem is how to get people out of poverty.

But many in the political class find it easier to create illusions that it is wealth that's the problem. This is most unfortunate.

In other words Adam Smith was right.

Buy your copy here…