Difference between revisions of "Portal:Economic Freedom"

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<h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Wealth and Poverty</h2>
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<h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Economic Freedom</h2>
 
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One way to understand American success is to look at wealth and poverty in the U.S.  While some in America live with poverty, on average, we have enormous wealth.  <!--Both the existence of poverty and our ability to create wealth are the result of the human condition, American society, our Constitution, and government policy.--> Both wealth and poverty are badly misunderstood, which is a problem for honest politics.  To understand them is to strengthen our basis for making intelligent political decisions and dispersing the fog of political marketing.
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If you had to choose one or the other - between political freedom and economic freedom, having one and not the other - which would you choose? With only a little thought, you would likely choose economic freedom since it rules more of our lives, provides our living, and provides the widest range of personal choice in our daily life.   
<br>Wealth and poverty can be thought of as two sides of the same coin.  If you understand wealth, you begin to understand poverty and vice-versa. 
 
<br>So, what is wealth?  <!--CW presents its understanding and it is that which we speak of here-->
 
It will be helpful to first say what it isn't.
 
  
:It is easy to confound wealth and money and most of us do.  They are not the same as we speak of them here.  A large pile of gold coins makes you rich, but not necessarily wealthy.  Gold (or cash) is a static assetYou can use it to buy things, but it creates nothing unless it is used to enable assets that do produce wealth.  Once spent for consumption, nothing is left behind to generate a continuing stream of spending power.
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This is partly a trick questionOne cannot choose to have political freedom and forego economic freedom.  
  
George Gilder<ref name="Wealth and Poverty">Gilder, George. ''Wealth and Poverty''. New York. Basic Books, Inc. 1981</ref> uses the illustration of oil rich countries.  Several countries with the highest per-capita spending power are in the middle eastTheir spending power comes from their oil assets.  They can buy Rolls Royces, private Boeings, and build office buildings. But those are perishable things which, in themselves, generate no further income unless they are put to use in wealth generating ways.  When the oil is gone, those countries could become as poor as they were before the oil was discoveredThey have more riches than wealth.  Venezuela has much the same problem today, but is further down the road.  They are a formerly rich country of little wealth, now in the process of going broke.  Without its oil assets, Russia would be impoverished.  Countries like England, Germany, Japan, the U.S., and others have wealth engines that relegate whatever oil assets they may (or may not) have to supporting roles.
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Many people see political freedom and economic freedom as unrelated - believing that individual freedom is a political problem and material welfare an economic problem. And that therefore, being unconnected, any economic arrangement can be coupled with any political arrangement.
:Wealth is having the kind of enduring assets and capacities (such as work skills, schools, industries, roads, ports, airports, railroads, and a robust and honest society) that will generate future income.  
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<br>From a practical standpoint freedom of economic transaction and arrangement is part of, and fundamental to individual freedomHow can one be politically free and not be economically free? What value would there be in a political freedom which did not also allow us to make our own decisions about what products we buy or sell, what job we wish to perform and what employer we wish to work for? In fact, economic freedom is the most important freedom we can possessIt embodies our rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and is essentially the same thing.
:: Example: Steve Jobs had wealth - arguably, long before he was rich.  His assets were useful knowledge, the vision to use it, the capacity to work for that vision, faith in the market place and a government that guaranteed him the freedom to create something that we did not know we needed until he presented it to us. There are millions of other such examples created by more ordinary Americans who started from nothing and built their own futuresThese are stories of wealthThere is a little truth to adage that "it takes money to make money", but it would be completely untrue to say that it takes money to create wealthLet's talk about this within this topic.
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<br>Economic freedom is essential to political freedom - political freedom cannot be said to exist if it does not also grant freedom of economic decision and activityAt least we cannot point to an example in history of political freedom in the absence of economic freedom in a like amountNor can we reconcile how it would work in theoryThere are examples in history of societies that voted away their economic freedom or parts of it and then discovered that there is also a price in a like amount of political freedom.
:Poverty can be thought of as lacking that which is wealth.
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[[File:100-02.JPG|250px|thumb|link=]]
::Okay, that is somewhat simplistic. One would not say that rich middle eastern countries are living in poverty.  But, having riches vs. wealth, they have the potential to do so in the future if they are not able to transition to non-perishable income producing assets - all of which depend on knowledge, work, and a few other things that will be discussed in the articles assigned to this category.
 
::Viewing poverty only as the absence of wealth also denies us the understanding to be gained by looking at the coin from both sides. Just as understanding wealth helps to understand poverty, understanding poverty provides insights into creating wealth. 
 
  
This category is the place to insert articles about wealth, poverty, economics, and economic freedom, and how they have been effected by U.S. government policy and social customs and mores.   
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<br>It is also the place to put articles that discuss capitalism and socialism as contrasting approaches.
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==Article topics for this category==
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Topics (sub-categories) and articles in this category can discuss a range of topics that relate to economic freedom.  These include (but not necessarily limited to):
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*the relationship between [[Economic Freedom and Political Freedom]]
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*[[:Category:Capitalism vs. Socialism|Capitalism vs. Socialism]]
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*[[:Category:The Role of Government and Fiscal Policy in a Free Economy|The Role of Government and Fiscal Policy in a Free Economy]]
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:and
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*[[:Category:Wealth and Poverty|Wealth and Poverty]]
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:which has its own homepage: [[:Category:Wealth and Poverty]]
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:*The topic of [[:Category:Income Distribution and Inequality|income distribution and inequality]] are part of the wealth and poverty discussion.
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There is a growing group of "democratic socialists", for example, that believe that socialism can guarantee individual freedom through political action; even though socialism is, by definition, a centrally planned and directed economy with assets of production owned by the state. 
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Then can it be said that a society that does not enjoy economic freedom is free?  Freedom of economic activity is part of freedom and is an end in itself.
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Economic freedom is a component of the general concept of freedom. Ask yourself - if you had to had to choose between political freedom and economic freedom, which would you choose?  A more interesting question would be - can one exist without the other?  Could you have a Russian economic system and political freedom - without the Russian political system?
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The articles in this category seek to answer that question and analyze the relationship between economic freedom and political freedom.   
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There is also an interesting contrast in the degree of proportional representation that can be achieved by free economic arrangements vs. the degree that can be achieved by even the most free political activity. 
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:When one speaks of freedom, there is only one acceptable means to an end - free discussion and voluntary cooperation. What all of us would like to achieve is unanimity  of
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        <h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin-top:8px;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Contents</h2>
 
Click on arrows to see subcategories and articles.<br>
 
Click on arrows to see subcategories and articles.<br>
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The "Wealth and Poverty" sub-category listed below is also a link to an introduction to this important sub-category.
 
Article titles are in italics.
 
Article titles are in italics.
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Here are some things you can do:
 
Here are some things you can do:
*Edit the introduction.
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*Recommend a good image to add to the introduction.
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*Create a good subcategory.
*Create a good subcategory.</div>
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*Write an article that fits this category or your new subcategory.
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        <h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin-top:8px;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Featured Article</h2>
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''Economic Freedom and Political Freedom''
<h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin-top:8px;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Articles</h2>
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<br>{{Featured Article|Economic Freedom and Political Freedom}}
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Latest revision as of 17:20, 7 February 2015

Economic Freedom

If you had to choose one or the other - between political freedom and economic freedom, having one and not the other - which would you choose? With only a little thought, you would likely choose economic freedom since it rules more of our lives, provides our living, and provides the widest range of personal choice in our daily life.

This is partly a trick question. One cannot choose to have political freedom and forego economic freedom.

Many people see political freedom and economic freedom as unrelated - believing that individual freedom is a political problem and material welfare an economic problem. And that therefore, being unconnected, any economic arrangement can be coupled with any political arrangement.
From a practical standpoint freedom of economic transaction and arrangement is part of, and fundamental to individual freedom. How can one be politically free and not be economically free? What value would there be in a political freedom which did not also allow us to make our own decisions about what products we buy or sell, what job we wish to perform and what employer we wish to work for? In fact, economic freedom is the most important freedom we can possess. It embodies our rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and is essentially the same thing.
Economic freedom is essential to political freedom - political freedom cannot be said to exist if it does not also grant freedom of economic decision and activity. At least we cannot point to an example in history of political freedom in the absence of economic freedom in a like amount. Nor can we reconcile how it would work in theory. There are examples in history of societies that voted away their economic freedom or parts of it and then discovered that there is also a price in a like amount of political freedom.

$1 and 2c.JPG


Article topics for this category

Topics (sub-categories) and articles in this category can discuss a range of topics that relate to economic freedom. These include (but not necessarily limited to):

and
which has its own homepage: Category:Wealth and Poverty



Contents

Click on arrows to see subcategories and articles.
The "Wealth and Poverty" sub-category listed below is also a link to an introduction to this important sub-category. Article titles are in italics.

Things you can do

Here are some things you can do:

  • Recommend a good image to add to the introduction.
  • Create a good subcategory.
  • Write an article that fits this category or your new subcategory.
 

Featured Article

Economic Freedom and Political Freedom
Is it possible that economic freedom and political freedom can exist in isolation from one another in the sense that any political arrangement can be coupled with any economic system? It is believed so by some. Many believe that the two are independent. However, economic freedom, while capable of existing without the other is essential to political freedom.(Full article...)