Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331642 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 12177
Publisher: 
Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research - CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
According to the economics Nobel laureate, Kenneth Arrow, "… capitalism is a flawed system. It probably has the same virtues as Churchill attributed to democracy: It's the worst system except for any other." Thus, capitalism is a necessary evil, but it is not inherently bad. I argue that most people have a capitalist mindset but do not have the power to be capitalists. There are different intensities of capitalist mindsets and constraints on the power of capitalists. Thus, there are different types of capitalism and, as a result, different socio-economic outcomes. I discuss the relationship between capitalism and economics and conclude that the perception that economists are cheerleaders of neoliberalism and capitalism may be wrong.
Subjects: 
capitalism
economists
free market
power
regulation
values
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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