The Many and Varied Explanations for the Explosion in Human Wealth

Posted by CircuitGuy 1 year, 7 months ago to Economics
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"There are many competing theories that purport to explain the dramatic and sustained increase in wealth and well‐​being for humans these last two centuries. Deirdre McCloskey discusses why she believes liberty is the secret sauce of growing prosperity."

It's 19 minutes, easy to listen to, and I found it iteresting because she talks about some common explanations for wealth creation and how liberty is the key ingredient.
SOURCE URL: https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/many-varied-explanations-explosion-human-wealth


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  • Posted by $ Markus_Katabri 1 year, 7 months ago
    Wealth......I feel we must define wealth. I can see where pursuit of financial wealth increased our standard of living. One can easily argue that the most incredible advances came about after the creature from Jekyll Island was conceived. Easy money as it were.
    Liberty playing a role is empirically evident by looking at the Soviet Union and it’s level of innovation compared to the west.
    But Liberty and Freedom I feel are two different animals.
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    • Posted by 1 year, 6 months ago
      If incredible advances and increased wealth appeared a long with fractional reserve banking and maybe banking played a role, isn't that a huge mark in favor of modern banking? It's probably hard to work out how much banking lead to wealth vs. wealth increasing the need for banking.

      I think of money as a medium of exchange, and banking allows unlimited money to exist commensurate with the goods and services people create. I'm optimistic that cryptocurrencies may provide unlimitied media of exchange that compete with state-backed money.

      I'm not so knowledgeable on the philosophical difference betwene Liberty and Freedom, but I think of Liberty as an environment where people can exercise freedom without infringing on others' rights. If there's not a good criminal justice system, bad guys of various sorts can stop people from exercising their rights.
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