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67. Good Economics
Is
Good Citizenship
Business cycle theorist Joseph Schumpeter used to
characterize the modern mixed economy in our
American republic as
"capitalism in an oxygen tent
"
The late Ben Rogge, and former American Studies
Institute Series Speaker, put it this way:
The question before the house is not
whether the survival of capitalism is in
doube· this is admitted. The question for
us is, what to do? Perhaps all of us
would feel more at ease as the
diagnostician than as the therapist.
Admittedly, diagnosis must usually
precede therapy. Proper therapy usually
rest upon proper diagnosis of the
problem.
What is done on the Harding campus and through
the Belden Center, is a polished strategy of a moral
defense tying together both private property and
personal liberty. They stand or fall together; and a
delicate alliance must be achieved between the private
and public sectors, as we accept this challenge.
Responsible advocacy economics is used to sell
through principled arguments the belief that,
historically, free, private enterprise has all the good
arguments on its side. There is no alternative to
capitalism that credibly promises wealth and liberty.
How can those in the private sector provide further
help? More business people are needed who will say,
"171 support it
--
you get it done.
"
Business people will
have to do more than relegate the cost of explaining
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