We Are Not Smart Enough To Leave

People 'over-produce' Pollution Because They Are Not Paying For The Costs Of Dealing With It.

The History Of Capitalism Has Been So Totally Re-written That Many People In The Rich World Do Not Perceive The Historical Double Standards Involved In Recommending Free Trade And Free Market To Developing Countries.

Between The Great Depression And The 1970s, Private Business Was Viewed With Suspicion Even In Most Capitalist Economies. Businesses Were, So The Story Goes, Seen As Anti-social Agents Whose Profit-seeking Needed To Be Restrained For Other, Supposedly Loftier, Goals, Such As Justice, Social Harmony, Protection Of The Weak And Even National Glory.

Since The 1980s, We Have Given The Rich A Bigger Slice Of Our Pie In The Belief That They Would Create More Wealth, Making The Pie Bigger Than Otherwise Possible In The Long Run. The Rich Got The Bigger Slice Of The Pie All Right, But They Have Actually Reduced The Pace At Which The Pie Is Growing.

If We Are Really Serious About Preventing Another Crisis Like The 2008 Meltdown We Should Simply Ban Complex Financial Instruments, Unless They Can Be Unambiguously Shown To Benefit Society In The Long Run. This Is What We Do All The Time With Other Products-drugs, Cars, Electrical Products And Many Others.