Daniel Hannan hits a home run in the UK The Telegraph with Memo to the Occupy Protesters: here are ten things we evil capitalists really think.

Hannan item number 5:

We are not against equality. We generally recognize the benefits in Scandinavian-style homogeneity: crime tends to be lower, people are less stressed etc. Our objection is not that egalitarianism is undesirable in itself, but that the policies required to enforce it involve a disproportionate loss of liberty and prosperity.

In a similar vein item number 4:

Those of us who believe in small government are not motivated by the desire to make the rich richer. We’re really not. We are, in most cases, nowhere near having to pay top rate tax ourselves; our most eloquent champions over the years have been modestly-paid academics. We believe that economic freedom will enrich the country as a whole. Yes, the wealthy might become wealthier still, but we don’t see that as an argument against raising living standards for the majority.

HKO comment:

Well intentioned efforts to reduce inequality seem to run counter to economic growth which tends to improve all income categories.  The result is that the poor are less well-off even though the intent is to make the rich less well-off as well.  Some of the most egalitarian societies are also the poorest.

Even the model European societies are facing catastrophe in being able to afford the requirements they have chosen.   This is not just due to limited economic growth but more importantly to a decline in population growth which is tightly related.  An economy can grow by increasing the productivity per worker or increasing the number of workers producing.

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