A Sense of Economic Wonder
In his latest National Journal column, Clive Crook remembers Milton Friedman, whom he describes as "the formative intellectual influence of my life." I particularly like this passage, which isn't about Friedman per se:
Much of what is wrong with popular attitudes to capitalism comes down to one thing: a lack of wonder at what uncoordinated markets can achieve. Going to a grocery store for the hundredth or thousandth time is a pretty humdrum experience. As a rule it isn't going to elicit much of an intellectual response -- though if it does, the response might be one of two kinds. The commentator Robert Kuttner once wrote of his dismay at the great number of breakfast cereals on offer in his local grocery. What a waste, was his point; who could possibly need all these different cereals? Can't we arrange things more intelligently? This is a leftist kind of response: "Put somebody sensible in charge and plan things better." The liberal response (in the proper sense of "liberal") is different: "How amazing that all these choices are available, so that every taste is catered to, and it's all so cheap."
Most of my work these days derives from this sense of wonder the curiosity it arouses about the specific creative processes behind these results. That's why I write mostly about culture and commerce rather than about government policy.
UPDATE: Take my new LAT Sunday opinion feature on the evolution of shopping malls. The growth of "lifestyle centers" is yet another example of the way markets turn valid social criticism--valid in the sense that it captures real and widespread discontent and identifies unmet needs--into entrepreneurial opportunities. (The customer response to such markets can also make certain social critics look like idiots, as my lead suggests.)