Tag: zero-sum game
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Calmly Considered: Scarcity or Abundance– Which Is Our World?
Last month, Dr. Allan Bevere and I got together to discuss the nuances of "scarcity and abundance" from theological perspectives. Too often people from the two fields talk past each other with unfair characterizations on this topic. Our conversation hopefully shines some light.
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Liberals and ‘libertarian populists’ are wrong: politics isn’t a zero-sum fight between corporations and the poor – Ezra Klein
Washington Post: Liberals and ‘libertarian populists’ are wrong: politics isn’t a zero-sum fight between corporations and the poor – Ezra Klein …Positing this zero-sum death struggle between corporate America and poorer Americans is the key to the emergent arguments around “libertarian populism.” The basic idea there is that if Washington would simply close its doors…
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Are We Talking About Inequality or Poverty?
Clive Crook wrote an interesting piece: All This Inequality Talk Does Nothing for the Poor – Bloomberg … Inequality is rising, and that's a bad thing. What's worse is that the issue is getting mixed up with what should be a more pressing debate over economic opportunity, which would be better kept separate. This is…
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We are not running out of commodities
I've been writing about the common misperception of the economy as a zero-sum game and the fear that we will soon (or ever) run out of nonrenewable resources. This is counterintuitive to so many people that I need to address it in detail. I wrote a draft of this section for my book, but I…
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Best of It: Principles of a New Realism (Part 5)
[Series Index] Today we wrap up Chapter 8, "Principles of a New Realism," in John Stackhouse's Making the Best of It. The fourth and final section deals with "Liberty and Cooperation." Liberty and Cooperation Individuals … We are free, first from sin and death. No longer must we obey sin and fear death. We are…
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Poor Aren’t Poor Because Rich Are Rich
Real Clear Markets: Poor Aren't Poor Because Rich Are Rich Robert Samuelson (Emphasis is mine.) For years, we've debated rising economic inequality. On one side, liberals denounce it as unjust. Redistribute wealth to the poor and middle class, they say. On the other, conservatives minimize its importance. What matters most is overall economic growth, they…
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Living Simply in Abundance (3)
From where does economic wealth and abundance come? I think there are two primary sources: Production and trade. Production is quite obvious to most folks. The earth furnishes us with abundant raw materials, but human labor transforms the resources into something useful. The most ancient form of wealth creation goes back to cultivating and herding.…
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Economic Fallacies: “Capitalism Based on Greed”
The "Capitalism Based on Greed" fallacy says that greed and selfishness are inherent in capitalism. The assertion that capitalism is based on greed and selfishness is one of the most common fallacies. This fallacy has many layers, but we must first acknowledge that greed exists within capitalism, just as it does in every economic system!…