Liberals are at odds with reality.....
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/11/world-think-capitalism/
Capitalism seems to have few defenders these days. The laudable desire to sympathize with the poor and distressed has led many to believe there’s less growth and opportunity than there really is, and to overestimate the scale and scope of questionable business practices. A new international poll from the London-basedLegatum Institute about public attitudes toward capitalism highlights exactly these problems.
The poll surveyed people in the UK, US, and Germany, as well as in the up-and-coming economies of Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Large majorities in both developed and rapidly developing countries believed that, in a capitalist economy, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
Yet as Legatum notes, these impressions are “at odds with reality.” Around the world, both the rich and the poor and getting richer, according to analysts from the World Bank and other organizations. We are actually seeing rising incomes, higher literacy rates, and improved health outcomes across the board — and it’s the economic growth generated by a mostly free economy that makes that possible.
Ideological opponents of free markets have been effective at popularizing their views via the political process, but I suspect a more important reason for these negative attitudes is a popular culture in which businessmen are frequently portrayed as villains.
In addition, the continual drumbeat of stories about wage stagnation and income inequality, however concerned one might be about those effects, has managed to convince large numbers of people that the big picture trends of global economic life are upside down.
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Democrats are the ones drumming. That's how they get political power.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/11/world-think-capitalism/
Capitalism seems to have few defenders these days. The laudable desire to sympathize with the poor and distressed has led many to believe there’s less growth and opportunity than there really is, and to overestimate the scale and scope of questionable business practices. A new international poll from the London-basedLegatum Institute about public attitudes toward capitalism highlights exactly these problems.
The poll surveyed people in the UK, US, and Germany, as well as in the up-and-coming economies of Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Large majorities in both developed and rapidly developing countries believed that, in a capitalist economy, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
Yet as Legatum notes, these impressions are “at odds with reality.” Around the world, both the rich and the poor and getting richer, according to analysts from the World Bank and other organizations. We are actually seeing rising incomes, higher literacy rates, and improved health outcomes across the board — and it’s the economic growth generated by a mostly free economy that makes that possible.
Ideological opponents of free markets have been effective at popularizing their views via the political process, but I suspect a more important reason for these negative attitudes is a popular culture in which businessmen are frequently portrayed as villains.
In addition, the continual drumbeat of stories about wage stagnation and income inequality, however concerned one might be about those effects, has managed to convince large numbers of people that the big picture trends of global economic life are upside down.
-----
Democrats are the ones drumming. That's how they get political power.
