Forbes Column 2009: Capitalism’s Fundamental Flaw

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and

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Capitalism 2.0: Excess, Hedonism, Value

We have discussed the role of the creator versus the role of the speculator. Let’s also discuss what are the outcomes of compensating creators over speculators. I would submit, speculators tend to have a less than compelling vision about what to do with wealth, whereas creators often have equally creative ideas about how to continue

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Capitalism 2.0: Speculator vs. Creator

One of the flaws I see in Capitalism 1.0 is that speculators get compensated at a substantially higher rate than value creators. As a result, I am hearing from more and more entrepreneurs, CEOs, senior executives – the builders, so to speak – that they are no longer willing to work 60-80 hour weeks. They

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Capitalism 2.0: Logic

During the elections, one of the most frustrating experiences I had was trying to have intellectual discussions with people about Obama’s policies. While I have tried to examine things with logic, they have decided to suspend logic, and rely on faith. “He will figure it out,” has been the most common line. Well, I don’t

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Capitalism 2.0: Intellectual Laziness

Here’s another interesting discourse from John Galt’s speech which is a good lens through which to examine several of our recently discovered “bugs” in capitalism: sub-prime lending and borrowing, Madoff’s scam, etc.

Capitalism 2.0: The Need For Regulation

Never have I spent so much of my thinking energy on trying to understand, question, assess, debug, and dissect a value system that I had, for years, accepted as a fundamental principle of my life. This series, I hope, will provide a forum for many of us experiencing the same period of questioning, an opportunity

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Obama’s Economic Policy

Here are some comments from Forbes readers on my last column. My response is below. Please feel free to chime in.

Punish the Rich, Subsidize the Poor

“Punish the Rich, Subsidize the Poor” – I have heard this dangerous theme a few times in the last week … I would like you to examine this thought in great depth. Here are some pointers: * The Historic Significance of Atlas Shrugged * Ayn Rand’s Literature of Capitalism And if you have not read

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