There are two kinds of economists: those who labor in the fields trying to understand the economy better, and those who propose bold sweeping solutions to universally acknowledged problems. (I oversimplify, but not much.) I usually find the first kind fascinating and the latter kind annoying — except when a lively writer and polemicist like Brad DeLong tries to be …
Capitalism’s Triumph over Feudalism
Joel Kotkin, an urban geographer, demographer, and prolific futurist, argues in a new book that the United States is headed toward “neo-feudalism,” where individuals have a fixed position in the social hierarchy, mostly determined by heredity. But his evidence is unconvincing. Rather than feudalism, we are headed toward hyper-capitalism, where each person is an entrepreneur constantly selling his or her …