Capitalism, Private Property and Freedom

Current economic theory still rights shy of value judgments in spite of a few attempts in recent years to accept their admissibility at least in those cases where it is considered impossible to arrive at a satisfactory evaluation of an economic problem without reference to them. One could say, in fact, that the only big exception has been in the field of Welfare Economics. Lionel Robbins' definition of economics, sometimes with slight variations, is still the one generally accepted by economists.1 This is, of course, not an illogical attitude. In a world with so many diverse philosophical systems and ethical codes, value judgments become inevitably too personal to have any objective significance. Economics, as a science, cannot afford but to be objective. Yet it remains a social science, and as such it leaves so many questions unanswered and so many answers incomplete. This is the price which many economists are willing to pay for the sake of preserving economics as an autonomous discipline. But if this attitude is carried too far, one would have to admit that Western economists are in a weak position indeed. If ends are given and, as such, indisputable, they cannot even justify the economic system which is the very raison d'etre of their studies and deliberations. In other words, in spite of the elaborate apparatus they create in order to describe and analyze the working of the capitalist system, they are at a loss when facing the challenge of those who, for example, uphold that the collectivist system is to be preferred. They would tentatively hold their ground by arguments which could be considered to be at least dubious. They would defend themselves, for example, by saying that it is only under a capitalist system that the sovereignty of the consumer is assured. They might also mention the economic advantages of the system. But why is it necessary for the consumer to be a sovereign ? Sup? pose that another system would give better over-all results, even if the consumer would lose most or part of his sovereignty, should it not be preferred to the capitalist system? The arguments on economic grounds alone are doubtful for sometimes social considerations might weaken or even outweigh economic advantages. We have witnessed in recent years, for example, how the U.S.S.R

Capitalism · Collectivism · Economics · Epistemology · Individualism · Law and economics · Market economy · Neoclassical economics · Order (exchange) · Political science · Politics · Position (finance) · Positive economics · Private property · Property (philosophy) · Value (mathematics) · Economic Theory and Institutions · Law · Philosophy

• The Development and Application of Social Policy in the United States

  Catherine Therese Knoop•Review of Social Economy•1972

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