Explaining the things you did in this essay is always a good thing. People need the answers to these questions that actually fit reality, not just the promises of the dishonest or totally naïve politicians.
Thank you, Pat. I really appreciate both the encouragement and the thoughtful feedback you’ve given on both parts of the series.
What makes these topics difficult is that the short-term political appeal is often very visible, while the long-term economic consequences are diffuse and much harder to see. That gap between intention and reality is exactly what I wanted to explore in the essay.
Attila, I believe your writing is doing a great job of making the "political appeal" of the voluntary market place rise, and exposing the very real and very bad consequences of the coercive government actions. Hopefully others will be inspired by your writing to do more of the same, to turn that statist mindset to more creative, peaceful and productive paths.
It still amazes me how much peaceful coordination and prosperity relatively free markets can create when people are allowed to respond to real signals instead of political distortions.
Wow! THAT is for sure. In China alone, going from around 0-10% freedom to maybe 20-40% freedom (after Mao died and Deng opened up on much economic freedom, has taken them soooooo far, soooooo fast in terms of material goods, productivity, wealth, etc. Could you compare Hungary pre-Berlin Wall falling and after?
Yes. Hungary is obviously a much smaller example than China, but the direction was similar. In 1990, Hungarian GDP per capita was only around 13.5% of the U.S. level. By the end of 2024, it had risen to roughly 27%. So relative to the United States, it essentially doubled over the past 34 years.
But honestly, statistics alone cannot fully capture the differences between socialist and capitalist systems. A much more vivid picture of that contrast will actually appear in my next Sunday libertarian essay. 😉
Thank you for those figures. I hope others read them as well, and I hope it really sinks in. Living in a country that has the material wealth of less than 1/7th of the US is something many Americans do not fully appreciate. And knowing WHY, that is known by far fewer even. The more people read and appreciate your blog, the more people understand the key to improvements in life for the average person, and even more so for the poor.
Explaining the things you did in this essay is always a good thing. People need the answers to these questions that actually fit reality, not just the promises of the dishonest or totally naïve politicians.
Thank you, Pat. I really appreciate both the encouragement and the thoughtful feedback you’ve given on both parts of the series.
What makes these topics difficult is that the short-term political appeal is often very visible, while the long-term economic consequences are diffuse and much harder to see. That gap between intention and reality is exactly what I wanted to explore in the essay.
Attila, I believe your writing is doing a great job of making the "political appeal" of the voluntary market place rise, and exposing the very real and very bad consequences of the coercive government actions. Hopefully others will be inspired by your writing to do more of the same, to turn that statist mindset to more creative, peaceful and productive paths.
It still amazes me how much peaceful coordination and prosperity relatively free markets can create when people are allowed to respond to real signals instead of political distortions.
Wow! THAT is for sure. In China alone, going from around 0-10% freedom to maybe 20-40% freedom (after Mao died and Deng opened up on much economic freedom, has taken them soooooo far, soooooo fast in terms of material goods, productivity, wealth, etc. Could you compare Hungary pre-Berlin Wall falling and after?
Yes. Hungary is obviously a much smaller example than China, but the direction was similar. In 1990, Hungarian GDP per capita was only around 13.5% of the U.S. level. By the end of 2024, it had risen to roughly 27%. So relative to the United States, it essentially doubled over the past 34 years.
But honestly, statistics alone cannot fully capture the differences between socialist and capitalist systems. A much more vivid picture of that contrast will actually appear in my next Sunday libertarian essay. 😉
Thank you for those figures. I hope others read them as well, and I hope it really sinks in. Living in a country that has the material wealth of less than 1/7th of the US is something many Americans do not fully appreciate. And knowing WHY, that is known by far fewer even. The more people read and appreciate your blog, the more people understand the key to improvements in life for the average person, and even more so for the poor.