Capitalism might be making us evil

From MSN Money:

It's just some non-MBA's quack theory that the market strips away all humanity and transforms people into commodities and resources rather than sentient beings whose welfare must be taken into account. There's no quantitative truth to that, right?

Well, maybe just the research of a couple of German economists.

According to a release from the universities of Bamberg and Bonn, a study by economists Armin Falk and Nora Szech released in the journal Science found that markets erode people's morality and help them make decisions that look outright awful without the thin veil of commerce. In short, capitalism makes us do some not-so-nice things.

More here.

An old friend posted the above linked article on my facebook page earlier today.  Here's the brief discussion that ensued:

Ron "Might be"? For all my left-wing reading, it was a documentary on the history of Britain I saw a few years ago, a section on how the slave trade arose out of what was considered to be economic necessity, but really was a chance to make massive fortunes with sugar in the Caribbean, that finally made me realize how money can get people to do virtually ANYTHING, and morality be damned. But it's nice to see at least one person in the corporate media figuring it out.

Matt Ha! People do evil and the 'ism's' all leverage it in different ways. For capitalism, technology is removing the plausible deniability that people count on - you now have no excuse for not knowing what the other costs are of your decisions. Buying and selling have a moral element - if you ignore it, you are still guilty.

Of course capitalism provided all that technology too...

Ron I've come to believe that capitalism is like fire. It has many incredible uses that have, do, and will improve mankind's lot. On the other hand, if you're not careful, it will burn down the entire house. Currently, we greatly underestimate its danger and overestimate its value.

Matt Everything you said is true. Trick is to reduce the risk without reducing the benefits (too much). I also think that consumers are really wimpy with their own buying power. They have much more influence than they think. And public markets have little to recommend them - huge warping effect on companies and individuals who invest plus creation of entities that benefit massively from destruction. Not that I have opinions about this...

Jennifer L Was it you Ron who posted an article about how the countries left alone by us (USA and other Capitalist regimes) end up making successful trade and enterprise for their county simply as a by product of being left alone? That was great. Although I think it might have been another friend of mine- with whom you would get along splendidly. He's a professor at University of Minnesota in Psychology and Political Science both.

Ron It wasn't me, although there are more than a few examples of nations who've told the IMF to go to hell, practice Keynesianism, prevent capital flight, and then rebuild successful economies. Chile, which was a big Freidman experiment, is but one example.

Jennifer L Exactly what the article to which I am referring said. And I knew you'd say something along the lines of, "Ya think?!" Regarding this article ;o)

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