Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Capitalism versus the Free Market

On Monday I flew east to give a lecture titled "Capitalism versus the Free Market," sponsored by the Future of Freedom Foundation and held at George Mason University. I had great time. The audience seemed to appreciate the lecture, and I saw many old friends. I really enjoyed myself.

The lecture dealt with the confusion about the word "capitalism" and the historical reasons why what is known as capitalism has little to do with the free market. You can watch the video here.

Let me know what you think.


Economic Liberty Lecture Series: Sheldon Richman from The Future of Freedom Foundation on Vimeo.

at

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 3, 2010 at 8:17 PM

    I am planning to show this video to my three Business Ethics classes at Metro State ( Denver, CO )


    Joanne Yamaguchi , PhD

    ReplyDelete
  2. MattMarch 4, 2010 at 4:23 PM

    Loved the speech, you have convinced that I should never say I support capitalism. Should I start saying "I oppose capitalism", that might cause too much confusion, but i agree with everything you said in the speech. I have come to realize, there isn't an obvious and easily agreed definition of capitalism, and most people say crony capitalism is capitalism, so we better just accept it. In most ways saying people who support free markets means they support capitalism, is in fact trying to change the word of capitalism, and it hasn't caught on to the rest of population. You mentioned that the crony capitalism and non free markets that existed since the start of the United States. Where can I find these regulations and crony capitalism examples? I believe they exist, but I'm not an historian, and so most people don't believe me. Where can I find these examples to prove to them the United States was never a free market?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gary ChartierMarch 4, 2010 at 5:42 PM

    I don't want to speak for Sheldon, but I believe a lot of the historical information can be found in Kevin Carson's Studies in Mutualist Political Economy.

    http://www.mutualist.org/id47.html

    See chs. 4-7 in particular.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sheldon RichmanMarch 5, 2010 at 7:20 AM

    Joanne, thanks!

    Matt, Carson's book is an excellent source. Also worthwhile is Jonathan Hughes's The Governmental Habit Redux.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Todd Andrew BarnettMarch 5, 2010 at 7:07 PM

    Sheldon:

    I saw your vid on Vimeo. They are excellent, and I think any current free marketeer and Kinsellesque critic of your thesis that's been written extensively on your blog should watch it.

    I just put it up on YouTube:

    Part 1:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufm3v9n3x9Q

    Part 2:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMKnFGxRbOU

    Part 3:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_OcsaEyiwA

    Part 4:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b9JcwZ_86c

    Part 5:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNuz_tHDWCs

    Part 6:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypJFVCZNFU

    Part 7:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pydotgo3nY

    Part 8:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGXkHE5L1II&feature=channel

    I hope FFF and you don't mind me putting it on my YouTube. :)

    ReplyDelete