In market economies, people who create jobs and wealth often generate great wealth personally. During periods of market unrest, those wealthy folks are often demonized as being greedy.
During a period of economic malaise in1979, the late Milton Friedman counsels Phil Donahue on the vacuity of demonizing greed. Enjoy.
Great Clip Tom:
And we have to remember that when he was saying this as he put it “…the role of government was exploding under the influence of initial welfare state and Keynesian views.” Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Preface) Seems familiar!
Bobby Jindal said it best in his rebuttal, “The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens.
Milton Friedman new this and that is why his lecture is considered the heart and sole of what America is really about!
I am surprised anyone could actually listen to Jindal’s rebuttal…for a Brown graduate he was stiff, and not very good at reading a teleprompter.
It is an interesting concept, this greed. as I recall when I was a youngster ‘greed’ was one of the 7 deadly sins, along with some other popular behaviors like lust, envy, sloth and a couple more.
In the biblical sense greed for greed’s sake is clearly not well thought of. Have we gotten to the point were we need ‘greed’ which is the absolute consumption with obsessive acquisition of money.
I sat through many many post-depression lectures about the evil of money from my father. And I agree now.
Why do we need greed? Rather than Jindal we should pay attention to Obama who is promoting the beauty of charity and good works (more than anyone since JFK)
Do we need lust to propagate the human race? Or gluttony to assure a fine dining experience?
I writhe with pain when I hear people say that is we don’t give Wall Street lords 150 million a year an inferior race of person will then only run the great firms like Citi and BAC (where for 150 million we can’t even get someone who can balance the books).
I see good people in academics who can certainly achieve at a very high level, but who value teaching, and community service (despite Jim Cramer’s rant).
Yes we need motivation to achieve, and wealth is a strong motivating factor (motivates me). However ‘greed’ leads to Stanford, and Madoff, and a caveman approach to life. Leave me out then…
Friedman was a learned man, however I would point out our boy St. Thomas Aquinas worked up a good resume too:
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that greed was “a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.”
Or should we listen to another sage:
Greed is alright, by the way. I think greed is healthy. I want you to know that, I think greed is healthy.You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.
* Ivan Frederick Boesky Former Wall Street arbitrageur
Obama promotes neither charity nor good works. He does promote a lot of envy (since we’re talking about deadly sins), which has risen in the current political environment to a virtue. And unlike “greed,” it has an objective definition.
GRG, you do need moderate gluttony (defined as hunger)to eat and you do need moderate lust (defined as sexual desire)to propogate the race, and yes, a moderate amount of greed is good as well. You should not use the excessive, sinful behavior of some, to argue against the rest. The bible says that the “love” of money is evil, not money itself.
By the way, someone should explain to Obama that Charity is when someone gives willingly, the product of their own hard work for the benefit of others in need, NOT when you take from someone and give it to someone else. That is called confiscation.
Obama made millions from his book writing, but gave very little of his own to Charity. My Parents taught me that Charity begins at home.