DEFENDING INEQUITY — by Steve Nadis
Yesterday, if anyone had any lingering doubts, listeners of All Things Considered learned why economics is often called “the dismal science” (and even that may be too charitable). Gary Becker, the Nobel prize-winning economist from the University of Chicago, defended the growing inequity between the haves and have-nots. According to Becker, the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer is a good thing, not a bad thing, because (as explained in the radio segment) the “gap is creating the right incentives. Poor people are learning that to get ahead, they need to get more skills. And the more skilled the workforce is, the better the overall society does.”
Wow, and to think they hand out Nobel prizes for this kind of reasoning. Yet there has never been a single Nobel prize awarded for mathematics. What a wonderful world we live in.
Posted by
at
15:39:31
Reminds me of the insightful comment my Hi-school social-studies (remember THAT subject?) teacher once made: “In this country, less than 5% of the population controls over 1/2 the wealth.”
“Yeah!”, exclaimed my classmate (a future hi-school principal), “That’s ’cause they’re the RICH people.”
By the way, Snake, if it DOES create the “right incentives”, we should have some awfully inspired citizens in Russia & China… :/
Thanks MP, I always wondered who grew up to become high school principals.
If I’m not mistaken, the University of Chicago has long been a breeding ground for this kind of economics. Didn’t Milton Friedman, proponent of “supply side economics” and the “trickle down” theory, teach there? If so, I guess Becker’s Nobel prize was for getting to the heart of this kind of economics, which seems to be nothing more than a statistically rationalized version of the Indian caste system. Beware the Untouchables!
You’re right about the “Chicago school” of economics, Gatemouth. It’s almost enough to make me ashamed of my hometown.
True, the workforce gets more skilled… but what about erganomics? The workforce will work harder at the easies way to make a buck, and as the rich get richer, they must create laws that protect them as such, because after all… a king of any kind is only as strong as his castle walls. Point being, the easiest way to make grand will be as an outlaw, especially making easy money becomes more and more illegal.
Get ready for the call from Stockholm, GS.
oh… I am…
With your comment appearing in such a high-profile venue, I can’t see how they’d overlook it.