Gordon Gekko… Meet John Stossel
By
Bat1
on April 29, 2006 at 06:12 am
Using a huge, delicious-looking Porterhouse steak as the main enticement, Stossel explains in simple, realistic terms that even a liberal could follow, just why “Greed is Good.”
Dr. Williams is a familiar voice to many of us. He is a regular guest host on the Rush Limbaugh radio show. He’s also head of the economics department at George Mason University, and like Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, he has a rare talent for making profound truths obvious. Like this,
As Stossel points out, self-interest, greed in other words, gets people to cooperate with each other.
Stossel then traces his steak dinner from the Weise family farm in Iowa, including Mr. Rosanke and his propane deliveries, through each next level of people whose own self-interest is to see that Stossel, or anyone else, gets a good steak dinner.
It’s a fascinating look at how the economy really works, and why we, all of us, do as well.
This is how our economy works. Read the whole thing.
Without (Virgil) Rosanke and others like him, I couldn't have a steak dinner tonight, but I and most of the people he makes dinners possible for are unknown to him. He makes our dinners possible anyway.
Is Virgil Rosanke a philanthropist? No. Is he a government worker? Not that either. He's just a guy who delivers propane to heat water for cattle to drink. Why does he do it? To make money.
If pursuing profit is greed, economist Walter Williams told me, then greed is good, because it drives us to do many good things.
Dr. Williams is a familiar voice to many of us. He is a regular guest host on the Rush Limbaugh radio show. He’s also head of the economics department at George Mason University, and like Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, he has a rare talent for making profound truths obvious. Like this,
Those areas where people are motivated the most by greed are the areas that we're the most satisfied with: supermarkets, computers, FedEx." By contrast, areas "where people say we're motivated by 'caring'" -- public education, public housing etc. -- "are the areas of disaster in our country. . . . How much would get done," Williams wondered, "if it all depended on human love and kindness?
As Stossel points out, self-interest, greed in other words, gets people to cooperate with each other.
If you want to benefit from other greedy people, you have to make sure they benefit from you.
Stossel then traces his steak dinner from the Weise family farm in Iowa, including Mr. Rosanke and his propane deliveries, through each next level of people whose own self-interest is to see that Stossel, or anyone else, gets a good steak dinner.
It’s a fascinating look at how the economy really works, and why we, all of us, do as well.
This is how our economy works. Read the whole thing.
