This one video, in five and a half minutes, captures every ounce of wonder, joy, mysticism and optimism I feel when I study economics, and it does so in a way anyone can grasp and embrace.
Milton Friedman did a great off-the-cuff summary of this idea on PBS, and I've recommended that clip for years. The catchy graphics and updated supply chains featured in this new video give Milton a run for his money. When you add in this companion video, you end up with a straightforward, refined and elegant summary of why I believe so strongly in capitalism and the power of markets.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
I'm tired of biology having better visuals
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That is beautiful, I feel teary.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I see or hear reference to Saint Leonard Read's "I, Pencil" I'm struck by one thing that always seems to be left out.
Self interest.
None of the people involved, or too few to count, are involved out of benevolence, they do it so they can also have the things they want and need.
Arther C. Clark noted that sufficiently advanced technology to our own would be indistinguishable from magic. After billions of years of evolution we still lack the ability/technology to organize things in a superior fashion to what is created by people working in their own interest.
The self-organization of free trade is so far beyond what we "imagine we can design", it seems the nearest thing to magic we'll ever see.
That all occurred to me because this video actually does credit self interest. I don't want to give the impression it flew over my head.
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