Daniel Hannan writes in the UK The Telegraph with Memo to the Occupy Protesters: here are ten things we evil capitalists really think.
Point 6:
Nor, by the way, does state intervention seem to be an effective way to promote equality. On the most elemental indicators – height, calorie intake, infant mortality, literacy, longevity – Britain has been becoming a steadily more equal society since the calamity of 1066. It’s true that, around half a century ago, this approximation halted and, on some measures, went into reverse. There are competing theories as to why, but one thing is undeniable: the recent widening of the wealth gap has taken place at a time when the state controls a far greater share of national wealth than ever before.
Point 7:
Let’s tackle the idea that being on the Left means being on the side of ordinary people, while being on the Right means defending privileged elites. It’s hard to think of a single tax, or a single regulation, that doesn’t end up privileging some vested interest at the expense of the general population. The reason governments keep growing is because of what economists call ‘dispersed costs and concentrated gains’: people are generally more aware [of] the benefits they receive than of the taxes they pay.
Point 9:
Talking of fairness, let’s remember that the word doesn’t belong to any faction. How about parity between public and private sector pay? How about being fair to our children, whom we have freighted with a debt unprecedented in peacetime? How about being fair to the boy who leaves school at 16 and starts paying taxes to subsidize the one who goes to university? How about being fair to the unemployed, whom firms cannot afford to hire because of the social protection enjoyed by existing employees?
HKO
The larger and more intrusive the role of government, the greater the need to impact the process though lobbying, and the more that government favoritism rather than market excellence becomes a road to wealth .
Excessive regulations slant the competitive game toward the larger companies who have the administrative infrastructure to handle the expensive and complex compliance costs. Rules often pressed and funded to protect consumer interest are too often used by existing corporations to protect themselves from upstarts. Social do gooders and moral supremacists are often played like a cheap violin.
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