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Capitalism

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Arthur Seldon is little known in his home country, the United Kingdon or abroad except among classical liberals, libertarians and those who inhabit the strange world of think tanks. Yet this little known figure is one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and will one day be acknowledged as such.

Liberty Fund is publishing a seven volume Collected Works of which is the first and which presents two works: Corrigible Capitalism, Incorrigible Socialism and Seldon's magnum opus, Capitalism. The first of the two was originally published by the London based free-market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs of which Seldon was the first Editorial Director.

Corrigible Capitalism, Incorrigible Socialism is a reprint of a 1980 paper entitled 'A Credo for private Enterprise' which the author presented to the New Zealand Employer's Federation. This is a vigorous defence of the liberal market order in the face of a continued onslaught by the proponents of the socialist or mixed economy. Whilst Seldon's case is inspired by the Classical liberal case of the 19th Century, this paper can be seen as a further development from the Planning Debate from the 1920s and 30s. Seldon incorporates in his structure the post-war so-called Keynesian developments introduced the various socialist governments under the guise of Conservative or Labour and also takes a broader world perspective. Interestingly, Seldon makes the following comment about China:

"But increasing coercion will be required to suppress the trend to initiative stimulated by knowledge of the West, and it is hardly likely to survive the century. Forty years later in China, where the individualist trading tradition is stronger and markets are a Chinese cultural inheritance, the regime is less self-concious (or guilt-ridden) about the use of 'capitalist' devices, and the return to official recognition of markets is easier. For this reason alone China is likely to emerge economically stronger than Russia in the coming decades"

Yet who could tell in those early days of the Thatcher government who would heed Seldon and the liberals clarion call to the return to markets. While individual politicians may lay claim to the collapse of Communism, none of them have anywhere near the power of individuals to truck, barter and exchange. It is that power which brought about the demise. No more, no less.

In Capitalism Seldon celebrates the economic organisation. Writing from the perspective of one who began life in poverty and enjoyed a modicum of success through his own efforts in the marketplace despite many great adversities Seldon highlights the improvements of mankind which came about not through some central plan or social organisation but through individuals recognising an opportunity to produce goods and services which met a need expressed by the demand in the market. The unintended consequences of human action indeed. Seldon holds that as the textbook understanding of the economy suggests there may be market failure, then correspondingly it should be recognised that there is an equivalence government failure. Whether that failure is inherent such as destroying or altering the price signals which reflect consumer demand or which comes about from the involvement of politicians in the process who corrupt the market for their own ends (the economics of politics or public choice approach) Seldon recognises that there is no perfect system. Using an analytical approach much grounded in the Austrian School of Economics, Seldon sets out a case where private is at least as good as if not mostly better than public. He develops this approach by pointing out the natural tendency of markets to flexibility and therefore creating new structures such as property rights to overcome such failures whils the political processes set in stone many of the rules which become obsolete very quickly. To Seldon's credit it is his credibility which comes about through being no stranger to poverty which gives his case the authority it carries in contrast to the well meaning middle and upper classes who adopt top down approaches to resolving these issues rather than leaving it to the creativity and ingenuity of the people (the market) themselves.

All in all this is an excellent addition to the Liberty Fund library. To top it all off there is an excellent scholarly and succint preface by Colin Robinson who succeeded Seldon as Editorial Director of the IEA and who did sterling work in that regard.

This book is a must read for socialists and liberals (and conservatives) everywhere. There never has been such a heartfelt exposition of the case for Capitalism which has done so much to help so many throughout the world.

Volume 1 of "The Collected Works of Arthur Seldon" series, The Virtues Of Capitalism offers the in-depth wisdom of classical liberal economist Arthur Seldon, who penned his theories from the 1930's to the late 1950's. The Virtues Of Capitalism is divided into two parts; the first is "Corrigible Capitalism; Incorrigible Socialism", in which Seldon explains why he feels capitalism is more open to correction and improvement while socialism resists adjustments to help it fit economic reality, and "Capitalism", a longer work that takes an in-depth accounting of capitalism's positive qualities. An excellent basic resource and foundation of insight into basic liberal economic and capitalist philosophy, The Virtues Of Capitalism is especially recommended for academic library "Economic Studies" collections and is essential reading for non-specialist general readers with an interest in economic theory.

British libertarian economist Arthur Seldon exposes the failings of socialism in general and of Britain's welfare state in particular. The author's antidote for the welfare state is to reduce the scope of government to only those functions that the free market can't duplicate. He considers and rebuts all criticisms -- economic, political, moral -- of the free market. This book has its shortcomings: It's directed towards a British audience, so it requires some familiarity with British history. Written in 1989, the book is a bit dated; e.g., the Soviet Union (which the author repeatedly considers) is extinct. Also, the author often repeats his basic argument; namely, the market is directed by a price system, which is controlled by individual consumers (hence market economies are prosperous and democratic), whereas the welfare state is directed by politicians, producers and interest groups (hence welfare states are poor and authoritarian). Finally, the author's syntax is often awkward. Nevertheless, friends of the free market will find in this book both an armory of rebuttals to capitalism's critics and abundant useful references.

What Ayn Rand does for philosophical reasoning, Arthur Seldon does for economical reasoning. Provides the reader with a firm foundation for arguing the free market proposition. Extremely reader friendly.