RW douchetank attacks economics of Warren Buffet and Benedict XVI

[rug]

How Is Warren Buffett Like the Pope?

by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force)

They are both dead wrong on economic policy.

The terrible economic news from both Europe and the United States has led to much soul-searching on both sides of the Atlantic. How did we get here, and how can we get out of this jam? In my past columns for Hoover’s Defining Ideas, I have insisted that both economies will be able to extricate themselves from their deep slumps only by promptly reversing those policies that have brought them to the brink. A successful and sustainable political order requires stable legal and economic policies that reward innovation, spur growth, and maximize the ability of rich and poor alike to enter into voluntary arrangements. Limited government, low rates of taxation, and strong property rights are the guiding principles.

Unfortunately, many spiritual and economic leaders are working overtime to push social policy in the exact opposite direction. At the top of the list are two prominent figures: Pope Benedict XVI and financier Warren Buffett.

The Pope was on his way to recession-torn Spain—to lead the Roman Catholic Church’s weeklong celebration of World Youth Day—when he denounced those nameless persons who put "profits before people." He told journalists, "The economy cannot be measured by the maximum profit but by the common good. The economy cannot function only with mercantile self-regulation but needs an ethical reason in order to work for man." Standing alone, these words mirror the refrains of countless Spanish socialists, whose relations with the Pope have soured in recent years. Their shared premises help explain why Spain finds itself in such a sorry state.

http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/90261

[dtexdem]

1. Uh, the Pope was not speaking as an economist.

And these RW idiots shouldn't be.

At least Buffet is a practicing capitalist.

[louis-t]

2. It's like half of their brains are asleep.

They still insist that hedge fund managers will magically create jobs out of the goodness of their hearts while stuffing wads of cash in their pockets. And what the hell is this:"maximize the ability of rich and poor alike to enter into voluntary arrangements"?

:shrug: