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65. Pass the Word About the American
Incentive System
The reader may have noticed that, around the
country and on most college campuses, free market
economics has been an underdefended ideology. The
American Incentive System may be the greatest story
never told.
The American economy has been called the
''Eighth
wonder of the world"
Economic illiteracy about it
seems to have become the
"Ninth wonder of the
world."
As people's judgment can be no better than
their information in modern times, they are often
caught in a triple whammy of misinformation, little
information, and no information.
The staff of Harding's Belden Center are well aware
that
''free, private enterprise"is
a term that is not well
understood, and it is all to commonly misused. This is
not only true in and out of the classroom, but also in
and out of the business world.
Unless free, private enterprise is understood from
the very beginning, then any economic education
program is in danger of being used on some glaring
misconcepts and half-truths. Democracy stands in
danger of collapsing around the practice of fiscal
irresponsibility as the public gradually learns that a
simple majority can vote money and programs for
itself, erroneously believing all the time that it will be
paid for by others.
Economics courses on some college campuses are
fraught with fallacies and myths, so defining
''free,
private enterprise''and
taking a look at its track record
is extremely important. This must be done on the front
end of any program or project, or it is doomed to
failure. Each generation must do its -homework if it is
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